Dance – short film

At the festival you can experience a curated collection of short dance films that open the door to integrated dance – an art form where different bodies and expressions meet and create new, surprising movement universes.

It’s free to experience the films, which are showncontinuously in a loop, soyou decidewhen you sitdown in the foyer and watch the movies.

Dance film is aninterdisciplinaryart form at the intersection of dance/choreography, film and visual art. The works span a broad spectrum, sometimes leaning more towards choreography, film or visual art, but always with movement as a central element.

Toke (6:40, UK 2020)
Director:Nono
Dancer: Toke Broni Strandby
Photo: Jack Forsythe

Toke is an intimate portrait of Danish-born dancer Toke Broni Strandby, filmed in London. The film takes us on an emotional journey as heattempts torealize his dreams while dealing with alienation and acceptance. It’s a story about overcoming adversity – and a celebration of the beautiful human capacity for resilience.

Gimp Gait: A solo for two (5:04, US 2016)
Directorand choreographer: Pioneer Winter
Dancers: Marjorie Burnett and Pioneer Winter
Photo: Marjorie Layne Burnett, Pioneer Winter

Gimp Gait is a duet that explores the tension between the private and public self and how the viewer’s gaze shapes and exerts power over the body. Through a series of tasks, the performers engage their interdependent bodily interactions without the use of tools, embracing vulnerability and presence without shame. By reclaiming the word“gimp”, the work invites the audience to consider differences and similarities – and to reflect on what it means to be seen.

Cuckoo (3:56, UK 2020)
Directors: Charlotte Darbyshire and Sophie de Oliveira Barata
Dancer: Welly O‘Brien

This short on-camera choreography from Candoco Dance Company reflects on our changing experience of time. The film is inspired by a custom prosthetic created by Sophie de Oliveira Barata of The Alternative Limb Project for dancer Welly O‘Brien. The unique prosthetic is carved fromcherry woodand contains both a working cuckoo clock and pendulum.

Blind sound (1:00, NO 2015)
Director:Maria Lloyd
Dancer: Hege Konstanse Finnset Eidseter
Photo: Harald Gunnar Paalgard

Lisa, a Norwegian blind dancer, creates sound maps of her partner’s movements. Through dance, she explores patterns and mental maps of three-dimensional space.

Nuances – below the surface (3:53, DK 2025)
Producer: Janne Weidinger
Cast: Youth from Levuk in Hillerød
Photo: Nanna Konggaard Kreutzmann

With water as a catalyst, the young people experience the freedom that movement in water allows. They are from Levuk, a club in Hillerød for young people with physical and mental disabilities, which together with the Association for Integrated Modern Dance in Denmark has created a project about sensing in water. The young people in the film primarily have cerebral palsy, a brain injury that occurs early in life and affects the ability to control muscles and movements, and can also affect senses, speech and learning. Some are wheelchair users.

Sininen (9:50, FI 2023)
Director: Kati Kallio
Choreographer and dancer: Vappu Virkkula
Photo: Arttu Salo

Sininen is a fairytale fantasy about a bird-like figure in the bosom of the forest. The film depicts a gentle strength and magical abilities, independence and an ability to create life, meaning and encounters around oneself. We all carry something unique that we can pass on.

The program is curated by dance film artist Maia Elisabeth Sørensen / dansefilm.dk.