Just over a month ago, on 14 October 2021 we launched Movement – one of the four curated programmes of Scottish short dance films selected to be presented at Aberdeen’s DanceLive Festival. With just six films, Movement paints a collective moving image portrait of the modern and contemporary dance pioneer Margaret Morris (1891–1980) and her method of natural movement known as Margaret Morris Movement or MMM still practised worldwide today.

At the post-screening Q&A, we were very pleased to be joined by some of the featured directors, including Abby Warrilow and Lewis Gourlay. Apart from hearing about Etch – their film which concluded the Movement programme depicting a journey through childhood and moorland with a nod to Margaret Morris and her style of ‘natural movement’ integrating drawing, dancing and music as embodied in the solo by dancer Joanne Pirrie – we were also very excited to announce Abby and Lewis’s new film project as a directors’ duet entitled Do you mind can I ask you…(what happened to your legs)?

Abby and Lewis were just heading to Achiltibuie in the Scottish Highlands for an emotional and rigorous film shoot with their cast, including Tess Letham, Calum Barbour and Laika, the dog and their crew from Goat Media and Eyebolls. The glaring omission was the late Simon Fildes (1962-2021) – Scotland’s Screen.dance festival co-founder and co-curator who wrote the screenplay and trusted Abby and Lewis to co-direct his film when he realised that he wouldn’t be able to do it himself.

As there tends to be a lot of works about despair in the face of challenge, Do you mind can I ask you…(what happened to your legs)? attitude is quite the opposite. Abby Warrilow and Lewis Gourlay

We are now pleased to extend Goat Media’s invitation for you to the fim premiere on 18 December 2021 at Edinburgh’s Cameo Cinema. Find all further details and book your free ticket here. Your kind donations will help send Simon’s film around the world.

Just over two years ago, on 27 September 2019 we opened a call for proposals as part of the 3 x 1 minute Screen.dance commissions, soon to be known as 3 x 1 – an opportunity for 3 Scottish choreographers to develop new interdisciplinary collaborations with filmmakers and create 1 minute screen dance works.

There were 28 submissions and 8 made it to the shortlist. The final 3 commissioned projects were a near unanimous decision by the panel based on the project teams’ submissions and strengths in matching the range of our Screen.dance criteria.

Fast forward to 14 October 2021 – the world premiere of High Winds & Slippery Surfaces by Pernille Spence, Corinne Jola and Zoë Irvine – the final of the 3 x 1 minute Screen.dance commissions following Deer OH by Natali McCleary and Siri Rodnes and Floor Falls by Jennifer Paterson, Abby Warrilow and Lewis Gourlay.

We caught up with the trio of co-directors Pernille Spence, Corinne Jola and Zoë Irvine ahead of the world premiere of their 3 x 1 work and asked them what High Winds & Slippery Surfaces is about:

“Our one minute film is about a fleeting body who fights to maintain control of their movement as they find themselves in an unstable and unpredictable environment.

We wanted to experiment with the friction between physical action, sound and space in order to awaken the kinaesthetic sense of the viewer. We introduced repeated disruption in the flow of action and sound. We also emphasised the abrupt changes between involuntary and choreographed movements to create a dark, unsettling viewing experience.

We hope that within a minute, High Winds & Slippery Surfaces will take our viewers to a sonically immersive environment, somewhere beyond the screen, somewhere where there is a greater sense of awareness of the space surrounding us.”

What better way to celebrate the world premiere of High Winds & Slippery Surfaces and the finale of the 3 x 1 Screen.dance commisisons but in the context of Outwith – one of the the four curated programmes of Scottish short dance films selected to be presented at DanceLive 2021 Festival both online worlwide and onsite at Citymoves Dance Agency’s HQ at the Anatomy Rooms. Outwith features nine screen dance works drawn from a juried open call and livestreams on 14 October 2021, 21:00 BST. Book your front row seats here and stay on for the post-screening Q&A with the artists, including Pernille Spence and Corinne Jola.

As we prepare to roll out the proverbial red carpet for the world premiere of High Winds & Slippery Surfaces, let’s take a moment to remember Simon Fildes (1962-2021) to whom this work is dedicated to. Simon would have been proud of this grand finale of 3 x 1 – his brainchild project which we launched in 2019.

Here is to you, Simon with a trailer of Floor Falls by Jennifer Paterson, Abby Warrilow and Lewis Gourley – the first completed 1 minute Screen.dance commission produced with your mentorship and premiered at our Screen.dance Festival on 20 June 2020 and since screened in a range of international festivals.

We are also very excited to announce that Simon’s final project Do you mind can I ask you…(what happened to your legs)? which is supported by Creative Scotland, Eyebolls, Cagoule, Goat Media and a community of 139 backers is being completed later this year. It is a semi-narrative moving image work that reflects on what it’s like to experience having a progressive degenerative condition. For further details about Do you mind can I ask you…(what happened to your legs)? please contact Wyn Pottratz at Goat Media info (at) go-at.co.uk.

On 11 March 2021 we rolled out the proverbial red carpet in Aberdeen for the Screen.dance 2021 Festival Launch in partnership with Citymoves Dance Agency to reveal our new Simony Award for Screen Dance. The very first award of its kind, recognising achievements in the field of screen dance went to Simon Fildes– an artist whose work I have been privileged to commission, curate and exhibit since 2001, and most recently contribute to as a fellow curator of Screen.dance Festival since its inception in 2016.

Sadly, on 17 April 2021 aged only 59, Simon died after a brief illness. Determined to take forward Simon’s vast legacy as a daydreamer, artist, curator, educator and mentor we pledged to keep his pioneering spirit alive and continue with both the Simony Award for Screen Dance and Scotland’s festival for dance on screen from its new home in Aberdeen.

On 14 October 2021, together with our Aberdeen partner Citymoves Dance Agency we will launch an hour-long programme entitled There is a Place to celebrate Simon’s cultural legacy through a selection of eight short screen dance works which he directed, co-directed or edited. The programme takes its title from Simon’s all time favourite, ‘breakthrough’ screen dance work There is a Place (2010), which is showing alongside Pace, Moment, The Time it Takes, Six Solos, Trio for a Quartet, Uath Lochans, Coire Ruadh. Join us for the post-screening live conversation with director Katrina McPherson with whom Simon worked for 20 years.

There is a Place is one of the four curated programmes of Scottish short dance films selected to launch at Day 1 of DanceLive 2021 Festival on 14 October 2021, 7pm BST and will continue to stream on demand until 30 October 2021.

Find the programme notes for There is a Place, including details on how to book your front row seat here

For all you wanted to know about Simon in his own words, please go here

A member of Traditional Dance Forum of Scotland (TDFS)?

Grab one of the 10 TDFS bursaries which will cover the full DanceLive festival pass of £35 and allow you to attend 4 days and all evening events onsite in Aberdeen and Banchory from 14 until 17 October 2021 as well as provide you with full online access whereevr you are based from 14 until 30 October 2021! If interested, please email TDFS info (at) tdfs.org by 14 October 2021 with a commitment to write a brief (up to 300 words) review of your festival experience for the next TDFS newsletter.

Not a TDFS member yet?

This is your chance to join TDFS as a member and enjoy opportunities like these TDFS bursaries to attend DanceLive festival either in person or online (or even both): https://www.tdfs.org/join/

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DID YOU KNOW

DanceLive 2021 features contributions by TDFS board members Wendy Timmons and Iliyana Nedkova who co-curated Movement – a collective moving image homage to the contemporary dance diva Margaret Morris (1891–1980). Find further details about Movement here.

Traditional pecussive dance and newly-composed traditional music is also represented in Outwith – one of the other three Scottish screen dance programmes at DanceLive 2021 curated by Iliyana Nedkova. Be the first to see the world premiere of this new screen dance work entitled Antagata Doko Sa (Where are You From) by Kae Sakurai, Monika Smekot and Riko Matsuoka. Find further details about Outwith here.

Building on the success of our March 2021 online Screen.dance festival edition which established our partnership with Citymoves Dance Agency, Aberdeen, we are delighted to continue our partnership and curate four screen dance programmes to be presented onsite in the city and worldwide online as part of 17th annual Citymoves DanceLive Festival of Dance 14–17 October 2021 and on demand until 30 October 2021. With the release of DanceLive full programme and tickets we are pleased to announce the full line-up of our four curated screen dance programmes which you can explore by scrolling below.

BOOK YOUR DANCELIVE FESTIVAL PASS HERE

14 October 2021 5pm Online worldwide & The Anatomy Rooms (Lecture Theatre), Aberdeen

Our collective moving image homage to the contemporary dance diva Margaret Morris (1891–1980) features eight works by Scottish and international contemporary artists, including Movement by Theresa Pickles, Etch by Abby Warrilow and Lewis Gourlay, Fresh Fresh Air by Su Grierson, signs of direction by Brian Hartley, Trio for a Quartet by Simon Fildes, we record ourselves by Katrina McPherson and Witness by Marlene Millar. Curated by Wendy Timmons and Iliyana Nedkova. The programme will be followed by a live conversation between Iliyana Nedkova and some of the featured artists.

The programme will continue to stream:

15 – 16 October 2021 Daily 1pm – 5pm + 17 October 2021 12noon – 4pm The Anatomy Rooms (Lecture Theatre) 

15 – 30 October 2021 online worldwide on demand at all times

14 October 2021 7pm Online worldwide & The Anatomy Rooms (Lecture Theatre), Aberdeen

Our celebration of the cultural legacy of Simon Fildes (1962-2021) featuring eight short screen dance works which he directed, co-directed or edited, including Pace, Moment, The Time it Takes, Six Solos, Trio for a Quartet, Uath Lochans, Coire Ruadh and There is a Place. The programme will be followed by a live conversation between curator Iliyana Nedkova and director Katrina McPherson with whom Simon worked for 20 years.

The programme will continue to stream:

15 – 16 October 2021 Daily 1pm – 5pm + 17 October 2021 12noon – 4pm The Anatomy Rooms (Lecture Theatre) 

15 – 30 October 2021 online worldwide on demand at all times

14 October 2021 9pm Online worldwide & The Anatomy Rooms (Lecture Theatre), Aberdeen

Our new programme of eleven Scottish screen dance works drawn from a juried open call, including the world premiere of High Winds & Slippery Surfaces by Pernille Spence, Corinne Jola and Zoë Irvine, alongside the earlier Screen.dance one-minute commissions Deer OH by Natali McCleary and Floor Falls by All or Nothing/Aerial Dance Theatre. The selected line-up features Loose Leaf Tea by Barrowland Ballet, The End of the World Show by Bridie Gane, Where are You From by Kae Sakurai and Monika Smekot, Fading Echo by Yuxi Jiang, Renewable by Susan Hay, The Chosen Haram by Sadiq Ali, let’s hold hands the old way by Zoe Katsilerou and where the spiders live by Holger Mohaupt. The programme will be followed by a live conversation between Iliyana Nedkova and some of the featured artists.

The programme will continue to stream:

15 – 16 October 2021 Daily 1pm – 5pm + 17 October 2021 12noon – 4pm The Anatomy Rooms (Lecture Theatre) 

15-30 October 2021 online worldwide on demand at all times

15 – 30 October 2021 Online on demand worldwide at all times

A selection of five artists presentations about Scottish screen dance works drawn from a juried open call featuring Happy Together by Sofia Kondylia, Forest Within by Anna Dako, Out of Time by Penny Chivas and Alan Paterson, SYLPH (extended version) by Louise Barrington and In Absentia by Malcolm Sutherland.

BOOK YOUR DANCELIVE FESTIVAL PASS HERE

While the hot Scottish summer and the clear blue skies have reportedly reached our Screen.dance home ‘up North’ at Citymoves Dance Agency in Aberdeen, we are here to remind you that the first of three deadlines, i.e. the early deadline of 20 July 2021 for our current open call as part of Aberdeen’s 17th annual DanceLive 2021 festival, is approaching fast! Submit here or by clicking on the image above.

Thanks to those of you who have already submitted your new and recent Scottish screen dance works for our open call programme through our FilmFreeway platform.

Can’t make our early bird deadline? Our regular deadline is 9 August, followed by the late deadline 20 days later!

Another reminder? Our current Screen.dance open call is for Scottish works, which are no longer than 20 minutes, made in the last 7 years and conform to the genre of screen dance, also known as video dance or dance film – an expanding genre of artist’s moving image created by combining choreographic intention and compositional form, with the language of cinema. Screen.dance does not accept documentations of live performance or dance documentaries. Music videos may be considered if the balance between dance and music is even. Submit here or by clicking on the images above.

Missed our announcement about the other two festival programmes we are curating and touring this autumn while setting the scene in Aberdeen for Screen.dance festival in March 2022? Check our news here.

While we are looking forward to Screen.dance Festival in March 2022, we are delighted to announce that Screen.dance has been invited to curate three programmes as part of two festivals at home and away this autumn.

Firstly, away at the 19th annual Festival Quartiers Danses, Montreal 8-19 September 2021 in line with our ongoing partnership with this leading Quebec festival.

What are the three curated programmes for these two festivals? Here are the first two, to be presented in Montreal first, before their homecoming to Aberdeen:

A retrospective commemorating one of the Scottish pioneers of screen dance, also one of the founders of Screen.dance Festival Simon Fildes (1962-2021).

Movement – a collective moving image homage to the contemporary dance diva Margaret Morris (1891–1980) featuring works by Scottish and international contemporary visual artists and filmmakers.

Apart from these two programmes which we will tour to Montreal 8-19 September 2021, Screen.dance will curate and present a third, open call programme of Scottish screen dance works to be unveiled onsite in Aberdeen and worldwide online as part of the 17th annual DanceLive Festival 14–17 October 2021 and on demand until 31 October 2021.

We are now inviting submissions of new and recent Scottish screen dance works for our third open call programme through our FilmFreeway platform 29 June – 29 August 2021.

Submit here or by clicking on the image below!

Screen.dance 2021 Jury members Anna Clifford, Hayley Durward, Simon Fildes and lliyana Nedkova are pleased to announce all Screen.dance 2021 awards – four festival awards and four special mentions in our two main competitive categories – UK and International. This year our International category uniquely recognises not one but three additional contenders that follow suit from our three curated festival programmes Growing Up, Going Out and Staying In.

And the Screen.dance 2021 awards go to:

UK Jury Award Divided We Scroll 5 min UK Klaas Diersmann, Director WATCH ON DEMAND HERE

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UK Jury Special Mention Collective Stasis 9.58 min UK Jamiel Laurence, Director WATCH ON DEMAND HERE

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International Jury Award Growing Up Category The Last Children 10 min France Fu Le, Director WATCH ON DEMAND HERE

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International Jury Special Mention Growing Up Category Hungars Beach 3 min United States Kate Corby, Director WATCH ON DEMAND HERE

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International Jury Award Going Out Category Memory 9 min Colombia Andrea Pelaez, Director

International Jury Special Mention Going Out Category Black Stains 13.27 min United States Tiffany Rhynard, Director READ REVIEW HERE

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International Jury Award Staying In Category Born Like a Bullet 3.30 min Chile Jimmy Fernández, Director

International Jury Special Mention Staying In Category INTANGOUT 7.48 min Italy Vito Alfarano, Director WATCH ON DEMAND HERE

Let’s rewind to 8 June 2019 when Screen.dance own co-curator Iliyana Nedkova guest-curated a one-off live screening of the entire Migration percussive screen dance series of five films as part of Edinburgh’s mini-festival of percussive dance. A post-screening Q&A was held on the stage at Netherbow Theatre, Scottish Storytelling Centre with Migration’s filmmaker Marlene Millar and choreographer Sandy Silva, as well as the percussive dance guru Nic Gareiss. The live audience was even treated to a trailer of Navigation – the final in the series still in development then. All left the stage with the promise to come back soon for the full theatrical release of Navigation.

Keeping our promise amidst a global pandemic, we are navigating our way back to the same, albeit virtual, stage at the Scottish Storytelling Centre on 20 March 2021 when online audiences from near and far will be able to watch the now finalised and already award-winning Navigation as part of European Ceilidh – a relaxed evening of stories, songs, music, dance (and screen dance!) celebrating World Storytelling Day.

Grab this as an opportunity in a ceilidh line up of storytellers to hear about this stunning screen dance work in a post-screening Q&A with Iliyana Nedkova and Kate Daly – the Irish mezzo soprano who features in Navigation as a soloist with the Lismorahaun Singers, whom she also assists conducting off-screen.

Join in the European Ceilidh – an opportunity for art and ideas to travel without us needing to. Use Navigation to visit the spectacular Burren region of the west coast of Ireland which provided the setting of this screen dance featuring the performances of 10 dancers, singers (including Kate Daly) and a community choir of 40 participants.

Book your European Ceilidh ticket by clicking here or on the image above

Worth reminding oursleves that Navigation received its first of six laurels so far – Screen.dance 2020 International Jury Mention – following its world premiere at Scotland’s festival of dance on screen on 20 June 2020 when Kate Daly and Marlene Millar joined Iliyana Nedkova and others for a post-premiere Zoom chat or soon after when Marlene Millar sat down with the team of Motion Dance Collective for an interview released as part of their screen dance podcast series.

Now you can sample more screen dance by other Quebec artists like Marlene Millar as part of our Screen.dance 2021 exclusive programme With Love from Quebec streaming on demand until 31 March 2021 in our screening room here or find out how it all began in 2017 when Pilgrimage – one of the early works in the Migration screen dance series won the Screen.dance 2017 International Jury Award and led to Marlene Millar’s major solo exhibition.