MoRFlix

Filmmaker / Director: Lavender Wong

Description: To each individual, I believe, the unseen existence is something that one cannot deny or hide from themselves; it continuously appears at the person’s sight and enlarges after every attempt of concealing. The more one tries to hide it, the more pain one has to carry along with them. I view this process of concealment as a ceaseless cycle, it does not end until the individual accepts the presence of it.

Bio: Born and raised in Hong Kong, Lavender Wong started training in Chinese Classical Dance and is currently continuing her study of dance in Calgary. A desire to merge dance with the camera and film field had motivated her to pursue a BA in Dance at the University of Calgary, with a concentration in Dance Production. As a student. Lavender seeks for opportunities to showcase her works of movement from the lens of a camera, while gaining practical experience through its creation.

Category: Student

Run time: 3'36"

Audience Advisory: None

Director / Editor: Rosanna Terracciano

Key Cast: Myriam Allard

Description: This ongoing project exposes the introverted, vulnerable and muted aspects of flamenco dance through film, one artist at a time. It began in 2018 with portraits of prolific flamenco artists from across Canada at different stages of their careers.

Bio: Rosanna Terracciano experiments within and around the boundaries of flamenco, dance, contemporary performance and short film, driven by an urgency to expose the vulnerable and introverted aspects of flamenco dance. Critical to her art practice is her identity as an Italian-Canadian born in Calgary, dedicated to uncovering the many possibilities of flamenco and to giving place to her work and the tradition of her art form within the context of where she lives. Her work has been presented throughout Canada and Europe, including: performances of her solo works at the Bienal de Flamenco (Seville), Coetani Experimental Flamenco Festival (Athens), Flamenco Empirico (Barcelona), National Arts Centre online (Ottawa), Mile Zero Dance Dance (Edmonton), Stream of Dance Festival (Regina) and Fluid Festival (Calgary); and film screenings at the Âjagemô art space at the Canada Council for the Arts (Ottawa), Reeling Dance on Screen (Edmonton), EMMEDIA’s Particle + Wave Festival (Calgary), Prairie Tales (Alberta), Gallery of Alberta Media Arts (Calgary), Festival of Recorded Movement's (FORM’s) Moving/Forward (Canada tour), dance: made in Canada (Toronto), Festival of Flamenco Short Films (Madrid/Brazil), Athens Video Dance Project (Greece) and the Breaking Boundaries in Flamenco Symposium at Oberlin College (Ohio). Her writing has been published in The Dance Current online. In 2018, she created the ongoing online short film project, a quiet flamenco. In 2019, she participated in creation and production residencies at the Dusseldorf Flamenco Festival and Mercat de les Flors (Barcelona) under the direction of Barcelona-based choreographer Juan Carlos Lérida, culminating in performances that opened the 2019-2020 season at the Mercat. She was Associate Artist at Dancers’ Studio West for the 2020-2022 seasons and is the 2017 recipient of the Canada Council for the Arts' Jacqueline Lemieux Prize for dance.

Category: Alumni

Run time: 5'03"

Audience Advisory: None

Director: Jenna Wadden

Key Cast: Kaitlynn Kassner

Description: How does learning change our day-to-day lives?

Bio: Jenna Wadden (she/her) is an emerging dance artist and film maker in Mohkinstsis. She is currently in her third year of studies at the University of Calgary working towards her BFA in dance. Jenna’s film making journey began in the summer of 2022, as she was part of F-O-R-M Vancouver’s inaugural Mini Commissions program. Jenna takes inspiration from the environment around her as well as her on screen collaborators when creating films.

Category: Student

Run time: 3'18"

Audience Advisory: None

Directors: Maddy Faunt and Sarah Vander Ploeg, Keep Count Dance Collective

Key Cast: Sarah Vander Ploeg

Description: What is truly happening inside the mind of an artist? Do we really want to hear their inner dialogue? Or are we just greedy to see the outcome of their madness.

Bio | Company Statement: Maddy Faunt & Sarah Vander Ploeg present a creative collaboration through dance film. Throughout the years this creative relationship has bloomed into a vibrant and fierce duo. The pair continues to explore the question of what is the relationship between the body and film? Both Maddy Faunt and Sarah Vander Ploeg define their work as: fun, funky and a bold expression of human emotion and embodiment. The pair is thrilled to see where their creativity and passion will take them as they continue on this journey together through dance and film.

Category: TBC

Run time: 7'25"

Audience Advisory: None

Creator / Performer: Kaili Che

Bio: Kaili Che is a Chinese-Canadian dance artist, emerging choreographer, and educator currently based on the unceded lands of the Coast Salish Peoples, colonially known as Vancouver. Kaili’s passions and values revolve around fostering curiosity, embracing vulnerability, and creating safer spaces through care and play. Kaili graduated from The University of Calgary with a BFA in Dance (Distinction) and has her HDPC with Safe in Dance International. She has participated in projects and research from artists, companies, and collectives: TRAction, Project InTandem, Cloudsway Dance Theatre, Ivanochko et cie, W&M Physical Theatre, and kloetzel&co. Her choreography has been presented at All Over The Map, 12 Minutes Max, International Dance Day, Expanse Festival, and Fluid Festival’s Cabaret. Kaili is currently a part of Dance West Network’s DADAO Program & MainStage for her co-creation “INTERWEAVE”. In January 2024, Kaili is premiering—Marooned—her first ever co-production (Dancers’ Studio West & The New Gallery), in Mohkinstsis (Calgary).

Special Thanks: Cole Alvis, Indigenous Climate Action, Gesturing Towards Decolonial Futures, Pembina Institute, Gwendolyn Blue, Anne-Lise Norman

Additional Credits:

• Videographer/Editor - TEMPO Dance & Visual Arts (Carla Alcántara)
• Producer - TRAction
• Production Coordinator - Kevin Jesuino
• Production Development - Melanie Kloetzel

Category: Alumni

Run time: 1'00"

Audience Advisory: None

Filmmaker: Gemma Crowe

Director: Carolina Bergonzoni

Key Cast: Matthew Chyzyk, Peggy Leung, Harmanie Rose

Description: Ho.Me is a short dance film that explores themes of belonging, comfort and discomfort in relation to the notion of inhabiting the body. The piece is comprised of three portraits of individuals who live in very different bodies linked together through a loose narrative. Shot in the intimate settings of each dancers’ home, the three performers move through solo material derived from the questions: Where do I come from? What stories do I carry? What is inside me? Through the three characters’ movement we learn about their distinct qualities and quirks. A kitchen, a living room, a couch, a clock... What stories to these places carries? How does the body relate to them? Moving from the private, intimate, space of their homes, the dancers become an ensemble in the formal setting of an art gallery, building a connection that speaks to togetherness. Ho.Me revels in the beauty of difference and the universality of the body; it highlights the relationship between the body and the self and the creative possibilities of the body.

Bio: Carolina Bergonzoni is privileged to be a dance artist and PhD candidate in Arts Education, based on the unceded Coast Salish territories of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations. Since 2011, she has been working toward building communities of movers and thinkers, with people from 0 to 99+ years old. As a choreographer, she has created works for the Vancouver Fringe Festival, Dance in Vancouver, The Dance Centre, and more.

Category: Alumni

Run time: 7'52"

Audience Advisory: None

Filmmaker: Lavender Wong

Performer: Lavender Wong

Description: If the world was in monochrome, what shade of the monochrome would you be attracted to look at first? Oftentimes, the darker shades become the focus as it highlights the focus of objects or images. The lighter shade or the white, on the other hand, are ignored. I believe this idea can be applied to the relationships between individuals. Occasionally, individuals pay attention to the flaws of a person, while the goods of one may not be acknowledged. To view the full picture, it is necessary to acknowledge and appreciate every piece of it.

Bio: Born and raised in Hong Kong, Lavender Wong started training in Chinese Classical Dance and is currently continuing her study of dance in Calgary. A desire to merge dance with the camera and film field had motivated her to pursue a BA in Dance at the University of Calgary, with a concentration in Dance Production. As a student. Lavender seeks for opportunities to showcase her works of movement from the lens of a camera, while gaining practical experience through its creation.

Category: Student

Run time: 1'00"

Audience Advisory: None

Director: Katharina Schier

Producers: Matt Gillespie, Blake Frondall, Alberta Ballet

Director of Photography: Alyssa Maturino

Key Cast: Kira Anderson, Kale Lazarick, Michael Scott-Kahans, Sayuri Nakanii, Seira Iwamoto, Allison Perhach

Description: My intention in collaborating on this film for Alberta Ballet was to reveal the discipline, human condition, and artistry of the dancing body through dance on film. From the early stages of the creative process leading up to the post-production of the film, Katharina and I remained in close collaboration for the conceptualization of the work to ensure the integrity of both of our visions. Support provided by Alberta Ballet and Joe Media brought the film to life and was positively fundamental to the work. The choreographic process with the Alberta Ballet company dancers was effortless; their focus and commitment to the process was truly reflected in their performance during filming. I would hope any viewer of this film walks away in reflection and appreciation for the emotions expressed through the dancing body; to empathize what it means to confront, experience, and move forward.

Director's Statement: I have found myself looking into my inner world as a source of inspiration for this work. The “good” and the “bad”. A response to a self-written poem, the film depicts my acknowledgement of the shadows in myself, the parts I have ignored or suppressed in the past, whether that be experiences or feelings. I wanted to bring them into the light to say and express that my journey continues with and through shadows. Alberta Ballet provided an incredible opportunity to create with complete artistic liberty, something I as an artist deeply appreciate. On the other hand, I very quickly felt the weight of this freedom. Where does one begin when anything is possible? For this project, I set the parameters as the centring of the poem that I wrote.

A key objective of the film was to utilize the camera as a key storyteller in such a way that if the movement were to exist without the camera it would not feel complete. Throughout the process, I often considered the absence of the camera as a way to contemplate how I was accomplishing this objective. I also wanted to embrace the unique possibilities and limitations of the space when developing movement. I wanted what we designed to be very dependent on the space we used. Everything in the film is inspired by the structure, the textures and even the shadows I observed in the space.

Category: Alumni

Run time: 4'08"

Audience Advisory: None

Director: Melanie Kloetzel

Cinematographer: Linnea Swan

Description: The Coming Silence grew from a site-based performance installation that considers the notion of extinction, whether through viral, climatic or ecological means. Inspired by the natural history museum display case and the popular Body-Worlds exhibits, the hybrid live capture/performance film ponders the false divisions humans create between themselves and the rest of the biotic world and highlights humanity’s ethical dilemmas in the Anthropocene.

Director's Bio: Melanie Kloetzel is a performance maker, scholar and educator who is committed to research that spans stage, site, and screen. Director of the dance theatre company kloetzel&co., and co-director of the art intervention collective TRAction, Kloetzel has developed events and encounters in theatre spaces, alternative venues, spaces of public assembly, and online environments across four continents. Films by Kloetzel have garnered such awards as Best of Fest (Sans Souci Festival of Dance Cinema, USA), Best Documentary (Mabig Film Festival, Germany), Best Cast Award (Toronto’s Alternative Film Festival, Canada), a Boss Female Short (Freedom Festival International) and a Best Experimental Film Award (GO Independent International Film Festival, USA), as well as been selected for screening at such well-known festivals as DANSCAMDANSE Festival (Belgium), the American Dance Festival’s International Screendance Festival (USA), and Danca em Foco Festival (Brazil).

Category: Faculty

Run time: 8'00"

Audience Advisory: None