Carmen & Geoffrey (2006), Pina (2011), Ballets Russes (2005), Afternoon of a Faun: Tanaquil Le Clercq (2013), If the Dancer Dances (2018), Cunningham (2019), Invitation to the Dance (1957), Ballet 422 (2014) ... Let's take a look at the ranked list of the best Modern Dance movies.
Storyline: This intimate documentary follows careers of two remarkable personalities: Carmen de Lavallade, a dynamic dancer and choreographer from California who moved to New York with Alvin Ailey and began a legacy of modern dance in America, and her husband Geoffrey Holder, a Trinidad-born choreographer, set and costume designer, painter and man about town with productions such as The Wiz. Features interviews and performance footage of friends and colleagues: dancers Judith Jamison, Gus Solomons, Jr., Dudley Williams, Ulysses Dove and Alvin Ailey.—Scott P
Plot Keywords: dance, documentary, biography, art, culture, performance, choreography ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: In modern dance since the 1970s, few choreographers have had more influence in the medium than the late Pina Bausch. This film explores the life and work of this artist of movement while we see her company perform her most notable creations where basic things like water, dirt and even gravity take on otherworldly qualities in their dancing.—Kenneth Chisholm (kchishol@rogers.com)
Plot Keywords: dance, documentary, modern dance, art, germany, performing arts, choreography ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: For many, modern ballet began with the Ballet Russe of Monte Carlo, originally made up of Russian exiles from the Russian Revolution. This film tells the story of this landmark company with its stars and production as well as its power games, rivalries and tribulations that marked its turbulent history.—Kenneth Chisholm (kchishol@rogers.com)
Plot Keywords: documentary, dance, ballet, history, art, culture, russia ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: Of all the great ballerinas, Tanaquil Le Clercq may have been the most transcendent. With a body unlike any before hers, she mesmerized viewers and choreographers alike - her elongated, race-horse physique became the new prototype for the great George Balanchine. Her unique style, humor and authenticity redefined ballet for all dancers who followed. Amazingly, she was the muse to not one great artist but two; both George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins loved her as a dancer and a woman. Balanchine married her and Robbins created his famous version of Afternoon of a Faun for Tanny. Tanaquil Le Clercq was the foremost dancer of her day until it suddenly all stopped. On a tour of Europe, she was struck down by polio and paralyzed. She never danced again.—Director, Nancy Buirski
Plot Keywords: documentary, dance, ballet, biography, art, culture, history ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: If a dance is not danced, it vanishes. If the Dancer Dances follows a group of New York City's top modern dancers as they reconstruct an iconic and mysterious work by the legendary Merce Cunningham, revealing what it takes to keep a dance alive. Timed to coincide with Cunningham's centennial, the film confronts one of the most urgent issues facing the dance world today: how do we prevent the loss of masterworks to time?
Plot Keywords: dance, documentary, modern dance, art, choreography, performance, creative process ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: Even for those who know little about dance, Merce Cunningham is a recognizable name - an iconic figure in his field. His mid-20th century collaborations with composer John Cage (his lifelong partner) and visual artist Robert Rauschenberg were central to an era of transformation. Cunningham resisted "avant-garde" or any other label. "I don't describe it. I do it," he once said. Now, with Cunningham, we have a chance to experience what he did. Filmmaker Alla Kovgan assembles the last generation of Cunningham dancers (led by Merce Cunningham Dance Company assistant director of choreography Jennifer Goggans) to present landmark works from the Cunningham repertoire. The film concentrates on the three decades from 1942 to 1972 when Cunningham was making his reputation. Gorgeously shot in 3D, Cunningham brings us closer to these works than any audience has ever been before. Taking an inventive approach with locations, the film places dancers in evocative backdrops such as a tunnel, a high-rise rooftop, and a forest. These current-day performances are interlaced with archival footage of Cunningham speaking and moving. We also hear illuminating interviews with Cage, Rauschenberg, and members of the original Merce Cunningham Dance Company, who endured years of rejection and outrage before they slowly won over audiences. "I never believed that idea that dancing was the greatest of the arts," said Cunningham. "But when it clicks, there's the rub. It becomes memorable. And one can be seduced all over again." Whether you come to Cunningham as a neophyte or an aficionado, you'll leave with a rich experience of his art.—Toronto International Film Festival
Plot Keywords: dance, documentary, biography, art, modern dance, creative process, performance ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: This is a movie where three entirely different stories are told though dancing. Words are not used and the style of dancing is different for each part. Kelly is a clown in the 'Circus'; a Marine in 'Ring Around the Rosy'; and Sinbad in 'Sinbad the Sailor'.—Tony Fontana <tony.fontana@spacebbs.com>
Plot Keywords: musical, dance, anthology, ballet, modern dance, choreography, avant-garde ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: Ballet 422 is a record of the creative process of a young choreographer Justin Peck, just 26 years old, hired to create a new ballet for the winter season of the New York City Ballet in 2013. The New York City Ballet is considered one of the best companies in the world. Since 1990 he is led by Peter Martins, his Ballet Master in Chief. The documentary describes the intense backstage work that takes place during the process of creating and learning this new ballet: "Paz de la Jolla". It shows Peck working with his fellow dancers (Justin Peck is also a soloist at NYCB!), with musicians, lighting technicians, and costume designers in the composition of a new work, his third creation for the NYCB. It is the first time the New York City Ballet is exposed during the creation of a new a ballet.—bobbuckingham
Plot Keywords: ballet, documentary, dance, choreography, behind the scenes, artistic creation, music ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: A self-trained dancer from the streets of Detroit finds her way after auditioning for the most prestigious ballet academy in New York.
Plot Keywords: dance, music, youth, dream, romance, competition, inspirational ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: A hard-working street dance crew, get through to the national championship, but get shaken up when their leader and main choreographer, Jay, jumps ship 5 weeks before the competition. He tells the crew, and his girlfriend, Carly, that she has become is predecessor, adding that he needs a break from everything...and everyone, including Carly. Carly struggles to fit into the leadership role, encountering problems such as finding funding for a rehearsal space and gaining the respect and trust of the crew. Whilst delivering food to a performing arts school, Carly meets Choreographer and Musical Director, Helena. Helena, is having her own issues with her students, a group of talented ballet dancers, who are technically proficient, but show no passion or fire when they dance. Helena is warned by the chairman of the school that at their current standard, they will not pass their Royal Ballet auditions, and failure to do so will result in dismissals. Recognising this, Helena, who is known for...
Plot Keywords: dance, street dance, british film, youth, music, competition, dream ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: Wendy Whelan joined the New York City Ballet in 1984 as an apprentice and became its principal dancer in 1991. She is a highly respected and beloved figure in the dance world. Whelan is followed as she confronts the limitations that time has placed on her body and learns to adapt to a new role in the dance community.
Plot Keywords: ballet, dance, documentary, career, art, performance, behind the scenes ...
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