By Victoria Starbuck, Staff Writer

Published in print Mar. 25, 2015

Some fear that our technologically driven era will make certain art forms obsolete. They fear that theater attendance will lower because of the necessity for multitasking that is becoming our norm. But these critics fail to see that technology can create a more diverse audience for art genres that were originally performed only in a theater setting. 

While music has reaped many of the rewards of technological collaboration, dance has yet to fully break into the electronic sphere. However, dance film allows for an intersection between the two mediums, bringing dance into a more accessible format. Dance film exhibits a quality of art that the two genres cannot display separately. It is more than the videotaping of a dance performance but rather is the exploration of ways in which the two art forms can collaborate to find new forms of expression.

Dance film relies on the collaboration between movement, audio, setting, and filming technique. Video recording of dance has existed since the genesis of film in the late nineteenth century. Dance film as a genre of art that explores various facets of collaboration has evolved alongside the evolution of its two parental art forms.

The second annual Greensboro Dance Film Festival, held on March 22 at the Weatherspoon Art Museum, showcased a variety of productions from both professionals and students. In the discussion panel following the showcase of auditorium films, Robin Gee, curator of the festival, noted that dance films must rely on ingenuity rather than budget. 

Many countries, especially those within the European Union, provide funding for arts projects that originate within their borders. The United States does not have as comprehensive a funding scheme for the arts as many other countries do. This

makes it extremely difficult for American artists to elaborate on projects they envision.

However, as demonstrated during the Greensboro Dance Film Festival, creativity is the most important aspect of this art form. 

One of the most well received films of the Festival was  “Confessions of a Lacking Pursuit,” choreographed and directed by Maggie Bailey. Bailey’s use of Sylvia Plath’s “The Applicant” for audio was mimicked in the film style, setting and choreography. As Plath’s words echo overhead like instructions on a loudspeaker for the employees of a supermarket, the camera spirals around the dancer. The infused art forms in this film create a message that could not be created in real time. The technological aspects of the film allow Bailey to enhance her message.

Opposing Bailey’s work in terms of budget, is “Me—Story of a Performance,” a professional work created in Finland. The piece involved scenes at a diverse variety of locations, including several underwater. Without the support of the Finnish Cultural Foundation, the piece would have been unable to fulfill the ideas of the artists. Though the piece was not lacking in artistic quality, it incorporated less of an exploration in collaborative techniques than pieces, like “Confessions of a Lacking Pursuit,” which relied upon smaller budgets.

In addition to the films that appeared on the auditorium screen, the Greensboro Dance Film Festival highlighted works created for mobile devices. Included in this group of films was the app Dances for the iPhone, which allows downloaders to have access to a variety of dance videos and dance biographies. The app, created by Richard Daniels, uses choreography created with the expectation of being viewed on a mobile device.

Daniels has created a dance performance that is completely reliant upon technology, attempting to prove that electronics need not overpower art.

Technology provides art with the possibility of reaching a much wider audience. It is vital for artists to recognize that the possibilities of their work are not confined to any parameters. The idea of The Greensboro Dance Film Festival is that the advancement of technology provides artists with a greater scope of possibilities while challenging them to collaborate across various platforms.