Hollywood glamour meets modern dance, meets short-film… was this what I intended? Well, it was what happened last weekend. Put together one fine dancer, a talented filmmaker, and a choreographer– add to it a bunch of fancy dresses, props, a dance studio, and Guilford, CT’s most beautiful outdoor settings— blend it all together on high, and out comes what will be our next short dance film. Annie Church could’ve been Gloria Swanson’s stunt double in Sunset Boulevard, if she were alive then. Behind the lens, Amelia Golden captured the essence of the day with perfect timing, grace and artistry. The shoot in Guilford at the New Haven Ballet Studio, had us in rare form. I joked with Annie throughout the day, “Mr. De Mille, I’m ready for my close-up,” as images of cameo appearances from the Golden Hollywood era, danced into my mind.
With bits and pieces of a theme in tow, but nothing really set, we got down, dirty, and even messy with mud, in our attempts to capture ideas about: all dressed up with nowhere to go. The idea stemmed from conversations with artists who struggle with their art. So many polished, poised, and prepared to take the next step, only to find… there’s no next step. Underneath it all, we are bare naked, with nothing other than ourselves. We watch as our dreams float away, and then somehow find resolve in the beauty of nature… nothing to expect other than the rippling, calm of a water in the estuary of life! Coming soon to a theater near YouTube!!
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| Annie in “A Dress in the Stream” | |
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Photos by Amelia Golden