In the first part, Jo Turbitt speaks with the director of Dance:Film about the festival, their shared love of films featuring dance.
Arriving at Dance Base, I’m greeted by Steph Wright in the middle of painting a wall in the foyer while in preparation for an installation as part of the Dance:Film 2011. This alone demonstrates the passion, determination and energy that she has for the festival. Having received no funding, Steph is investing her heart and soul into its success; from the wealth of treasures that are included in the programme it’s obvious that this goes further than simply wanting it to go well. Look into the centre of the event, it is apparent she is the force, the passion, the driving heart-beat, the beating drum. Over tea and cake we talk about Dance:Film 2011, Steph’s enthusiasm for films and get excited about the multifaceted characteristics of the art form.
Jo Turbitt: OK, so the big Dance:Film 2011 festival starting on...
Steph Wright: Saturday??!
JT: Saturday! What was the inspiration behind starting the festival way way back in the very very beginning…
SW: …back in ’07? (laughs)
JT: ’07, yeah.
SW: Well, the inspiration behind it was my background in film, and I came to work at Dance Base and it was kinda partially a way of me trying to work my passion for film into my current job, which is dance. But also…it’s quite cheesy, but this is one of the stories behind the start of the festival. There was, in the Observer, a "Ten Things I Love…" column every Sunday, and it was ten things I love about dance films, and I still have this article laminated somewhere (laughs). One of the final things he said, Jason Solomons who wrote it, was “dance films, when you leave the cinema, make you feel like you’re walking on air”. And I was like, that’s part of it you know; it’s great fun, it makes you wanna dance! So that was what kinda started it.
My initial idea for it was that it was meant to be a little season at the Filmhouse, one of the mini-seasons they do. I got in touch with my Filmhouse counterpart, Bev, who I knew from before, and the two of us got together and we had one of those ‘clappy-hand-meetings’ and then what came out of it was “oh-my-god, this isn’t just a season, it’s a festival—there’s a lot of stuff!” So we applied for funding, which we got from Scottish Screen, and then the rest, as they say, is history!
JT: And it just went from strength to strength…?
SW: (agrees) Like in ’09, the Festival was almost twice the size and we had twice as many people come.
JT: Is there any dance film in particular that is important to you? Is there any one that makes you go “ugh, yeah, that makes me want to dance… that’s the one”?
SW: Well, the thing is, my initial entry point into the whole dance film thing is through dance film as most people know it, but obviously since I’ve been doing it I’ve really got into the world of screen dance and have been to conferences and just finding out a lot more. Screen dance, as a hybrid art-form, is one of these things that…it’s one that I subscribe to, quite a lot of people do: it’s a visual definition. It came out of a screen dance conference in 2006, from Dr Karen Pearlman [an Australian based doctor/ lecturer]. She drew a Venn Diagram and in the centre is ‘Screen Dance/ Dance Film’ then you had three circles coming off it; you had cinema, you had visual art and you had dance. So the bit where it interacts with cinema is ‘Dance Film’, the bit where it intersects with visual art is ‘Video Dance’ and the section which intersects with dance is ‘Screen Dance’…
JT: Wow…
SW: …so there’s lots of different elements of Screen Dance.
JT: Totally
SW: Since then, Dance:Film has been about trying to show you all of it, and as far as I know we are still the only festival in the world that has that kind of approach to Screen Dance.
JT: Which leads me on to the next question. Do you see it as a celebration of dance film, of almost a forgotten art at the moment in terms of cinema because nowadays what we’re getting is action films and thrillers…. But how much do you think popular culture drives dance films, like for instance back when Hollywood first started using Busby Berkley….
SW: Fred Astaire….
JT: Getting performers over from New York because of the music at the time and because they wanted to lift people out the Great Depression. Do you think, almost in light of the current climate, that we need more dance films? Or should we be resurrecting old ones? And does popular culture affect this?
SW: Well, I mean the main ethos behind it is celebrating dance and film in all its forms, so it’s definitely a celebration. There’s a lot of screen dance festivals around the world, which are a bit more focused on the arty side of it; the artistic integrity and quality, which I totally respect, but I find that it’s quite difficult in terms of access for a general audience, so therefore with Dance:Film we try to show stuff that people know and extra things that people don’t know, and hopefully someone who goes to watch Shall We Dance on Saturday will maybe look at the programme and go ‘Oh, look… dance shorts, maybe I should go and see some of those.’
JT: An education, in a way?
SW: Not so much an education, it’s more… raising awareness. I don’t profess to be an expert at all in screen dance in any way, but I’ve obviously learnt a lot more about it and screen dance as an art form. The short films…. We have had the most submissions this year that we’ve ever had and the range of work is extraordinary and it’s absolutely amazing, some of these things that come in and in fact a lot of the documentaries which we’re showing are coming through the submissions because they’re just great films. I guess you could say that Dance:Film might be a niche, but these days, in the last 10 years, dance has had so much exposure in the media, thanks to things like Strictly Come Dancing, Got to Dance, So You Think You Can Dance, etc… it’s everywhere, and all of a sudden everyone’s interest has peaked.
JT: Dance film can be really infectious and inspiring as well….
SW: Well, I think the cinematic element of dance film, which is what I show with Hollywood musicals and things, that’s the really accessible dance film for people. In screen dance circles, I’ve been to a conference where people debate whether the Hollywood musical counts.
JT: You’re kidding?
SW: Yeah…. It’s divided. For me it’s very clear; they’re choreographing for the screen! It’s what Astaire, Kelly brought from Broadway.
JT: And he, Astaire, was revolutionary in dance film. He said, ‘Film my whole body dancing, don’t just film my feet.’
SW: I think the problem is that Hollywood musicals are very nostalgic. We’ve always traditionally opened with one because I’m a huge film buff, but it’s about the cinematic experience as well. To see that on a big screen is just amazing. The first year we did ‘On the Town.’ The first time I watched it was in MOMA in New York in the little cinema there, so to see it on the big screen was amazing. In ’09 we did ‘Swing Time’ and this time we’re doing ‘Shall We Dance.’ I keep saying, “they sure don’t like me them like that anymore,” but it’s true they don’t, and I think there’s an element of innocence that Hollywood cinema had in those days, whereas now you view every kind of musical that comes out with a really cynical approach. Back then they didn’t, and when you see it, you’re like “awwww!!! It’s Fred and Ginger!” (Laughs)
JT: Totally!!...and “Look at their feet!!”…and “I wanna do that!”
SW: So that’s part of it, the cinema experience of it as well…. It’s just about discovering stuff as well… I like to think that people will discover dance through film and film through dance. That’s kinda one of the big things behind it. That’s what we’re trying to do.
The Dance:Film 2011 festival runs from Saturday 12th November to Saturday 19th November at varies venues across the city. For more information, click on the link here.
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