The MDC Talks | A Screendance Podcast Motion Dance Collective

In this episode of The MDC Talks, we talk with Cara Hagan; mover, maker, writer, curator, champion of just communities, and a dreamer.

We have always admired Cara's approach to making art, we have championed each others practice from afar and finally connected in person in 2018. In this conversation we talk about curation, black bodies on screen, navigating the festival circuit, her book 'Screendance from Film to Festival: Celebration and Curatorial Practice' and more!



Cara Hagan

https://carahagan.net/

@carahagan_art



References: 

Screendance from Film to Festival: Celebration and Curatorial Practice - https://mcfarlandbooks.com/product/screendance-from-film-to-festival/

Cygnus - https://youtu.be/0yxsTerwHjA?si=ZfSU2iZDi7l1IjNh

ADF Movies by Movers - https://americandancefestival.org/movies-by-movers/

Cut Me Summa Dat Noise Film - @cutmesummadatnoise_film

Funding Bodies by Sarah Wilbur -

https://www.weslpress.org/9780819580528/funding-bodies/

NYCB New Works Festival -

https://www.nycballet.com/discover/stories/the-making-of-the-2021-summer-session-films/

1 - https://youtu.be/4qOGsKdvz1o?si=vvV_5R8e7E_51Wfy

2 - https://youtu.be/ihw4QM7YebQ?si=sget-g8KN_730aBg

3 - https://youtu.be/O_0JmVMovu0?si=IoYn36n1wRqnmRqi

4 - https://youtu.be/VUc188WtE08?si=jvfPAGq9s3BtXKXI

5 - https://youtu.be/g1CVEGFcN44?si=DpnvOaETu6cTONMK

In the Blink of an Eye by Walter Murch- https://www.amazon.co.uk/BLINK-EYE-NEW-EDN-New/dp/1879505622

What is urban dance on screen? | Omari Carter Video Essay - https://vimeo.com/328049558

Ode to an Unapologetically Free and Sacred Body - https://youtu.be/Se-paC7a8wM?si=ljHitZpDLQUCiBvY



motiondancecollective.com 

Facebook: www.facebook.com/TheMotionDanceCollective 

Twitter: @TheMDCollective 

Instagram: @TheMDCollective

In this episode of The MDC Talks, we talk with Gitta Wigro; an arts professional with over 20 years’ experience, specialising in dance-film and dance.

We met Gitta on the dance-film festival circuit and became fast friends, sharing her interest in connecting people and ideas. In this conversation we talk curation, connectors, the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, teaching practice, research and more!



Gitta Wigro

gittawigro.com

https://www.facebook.com/gitta.wigro

Screendance calendar - https://screendancecalendar.wordpress.com/?fbclid=IwAR35N9P4sXRnZl_0JoE9KXQK3DZ0gl17msdh26plkUgq20vP6ZqMpDvJc9c



References: 

'Boy' by Rosemary Lee & Peter Anderson - https://www.artsadmin.co.uk/project/boy/

'Hands' by Adam Roberts & Jonathan Burrows - https://vimeo.com/388689595

' A Drifting Up' by Jacob Lee - https://youtu.be/3ctLXHdb4dY

Rosemary Butcher - rosemarybutcher.com





motiondancecollective.com 

Facebook: www.facebook.com/TheMotionDanceCollective 

Twitter: @TheMDCollective 

Instagram: @TheMDCollective

The MDC Talks is BACK and we cannot wait to continue our creative conversations around all things dance-film with the incredible guests we have lined up for Season 3! The MDC team returns after a hiatus, lots of exciting projects and some big moves. In this episode, we get you up to speed on where the team is at and what we've been doing for the last 2 years. We hope you'll enjoy reconnecting with us and the upcoming stimulating conversations about bridging the gap between moving body and moving image.

In episode 12 of Season 2 on The MDC Talks, Anna Clifford and Omari ‘Motion’ Carter talk with Wilkie Branson; a self-taught interdisciplinary dance artist and filmmaker, currently based in the United Kingdom.  His latest feature length work TOM is commencing its international tour and currently being showcased at La Bienniale de Venezia 23/07/2021 - 01/08/2021.  

Wilkie expresses how the focus of his work always lies in the practice and not the product.  His early days of studying b-boying techniques were how he first entered into film and he was later drawn to animation because of its power to create something from nothing.  The evolution of his artistic practice is inspired by landscape, architecture and how the choreography within the environment & surroundings can impact and support telling stories through dance on screen.  Wilkie explains how his latest work is about reconnecting with your inner child.  He shares how the process of making the work reconnected him with his own family, some of the technical challenges and his most significant takeaway from the making of TOM.  



Wilkie Branson: 

https://www.wilkiebranson.com/

Vimeo - https://vimeo.com/wilkiebransonInstagram @wilkiebranson 

Twitter @WilkieBranson  



References: 

‘Little Dreams’: https://vimeo.com/128052930

‘End of the Block’: https://vimeo.com/73935264

‘White Caps’: https://vimeo.com/11272451

‘TOM’: https://vimeo.com/wilkiebranson/tomtrail

Making TOM - Part 3 - Available on Wilkie’s instagram @wilkiebranson 

La Bienniale di Venezia - https://www.labiennale.org/en/dance/2021/wilkie-branson-tom 

 

WATCH ‘TOM’ HERE: https://vimeo.com/wilkiebranson/tomfilm 

*Exclusively available to our listeners for 4 weeks only!!  





motiondancecollective.com 

Facebook: www.facebook.com/TheMotionDanceCollective 

Twitter: @TheMDCollective 

Instagram: @TheMDCollective

In this episode of The MDC Talks, The MDC team speak with Jevan Chowdhury; a multimedia artist and film director who works in commercial art and is currently based in London, UK. Jevan is the Director of creative agency, Wind & Foster and creator of the multi-award-winning Moving Cities Project.

Jevan explains how he doesn’t connect with the term screendance because he finds it limiting and prefers to label his work as film. He describes the motivation behind starting his company, choosing a metaphoric name and touches on the creative opportunity cost of running a business. Which leads us into a conversation about his ‘Moving Cities’ project, which started as an experiment. He gives us insight into the process, the initial reluctance to take risks and capturing the movement of the city. He champions the importance of watching dance so that as a filmmaker you learn how to choreograph with the camera, anticipate movement and communicate across disciplines.



Jevan Chowdhury:

Vimeo - https://vimeo.com/movingcitiesproject

Instagram @movingcitiesproject

@windandfoster

Twitter @Jevanchow



References:

Wind & Foster - https://windandfoster.com/

Moving Cities - https://www.moving-cities.com/





motiondancecollective.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/TheMotionDanceCollective

Twitter: @TheMDCollective

Instagram: @TheMDCollective

In episode 10 of Season 2 on The MDC Talks, The MDC team speak with Sima Gonsai; award-winning filmmaker and director born and raised in the North of England and now based in the Midlands.  Sima's exploration of film work began in 1998 and she is passionate about telling powerful narratives through the movements of body, film and music.

Sima talks about how her childhood lessons in Bharatnatyam dance and love of watching Bollywood initially drew her to filmmaking.  Her debut dance-film KITA, made during her MA in Visual Communication, was an exploration of the vibrancy of Indian classical dance and took 9 months to create.  This experience of experimentation with film taught her about perseverance, how to add colour to your work and gifted her an understanding of movement within a frame.  Sima describes her journey of making Cycle Dialogues and the joy in exploring communities across the globe with a bicycle and a camera before diving into her work with Freefall Dance Company, an experience that encouraged her to brainstorm what went into making a dance-film with and for complex disabled artists.  She describes the significance of creating work that audiences can experience and not just watch and also touches on the challenges and responsibility of making dance-film within this space.



Sima Gonsai: 

www.simagonsaifilms.com

Instagram - @simagonsaifilms

Vimeo - https://vimeo.com/simagonsai



References:

KITA: https://www.simagonsaifilms.com/kita

Len Lye: https://govettbrewster.com/news/2017/4/spotlight-on-len-lyes-filmmaking-tools-the-stencil

https://youtu.be/-DksmbDMDUU

Norman McLaren: https://theconversation.com/norman-mclaren-a-late-great-animator-now-drawing-applause-27506

Cycle Dialogues: https://www.simagonsaifilms.com/cycle-dialogues-film

Freefall: https://www.simagonsaifilms.com/freefall-film

One Fine Day: https://www.simagonsaifilms.com/one-fine-day-film

Screen.dance 2020 Artist Presentation: https://www.screen.dance/festival-2021/artists-presentations-1-4/sima-gonsai-artist-presentation/

Suspended Motion: https://vimeo.com/383081456





motiondancecollective.com 

Facebook: www.facebook.com/TheMotionDanceCollective 

Twitter: @TheMDCollective 

Instagram: @TheMDCollective