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  michaelmontanaro
Picture

dances for small spaces  - 411  
2012 - Bravo!Fact

A phone booth on some deserted street and 5 people whose lives are released from the boundaries of time, creating translucent layers that are forever played out in an intricately woven tapestry of memories.


My research in this area has been the product of a physical study into what happens to movement’s geography when subjected to architectural restriction and a reading of the effects that a multi-layered structure, steeped in synchronicity and chance has on the perception and use of space. Born from the analysis of the dynamic and aesthetic potential that ensues when one allows organized chaos to descend, interact and direct, the generated content is directly related to how substance evolves when driven by circumstance. The idea is to produce choreographies that can only exist within the medium of film. An artistic work built on the expression of what happens to human movement potential when its dynamic structure is the outcome of a process that allows for influences to be felt across disciplinary borders. Life and the complex interplay of seemingly entropic time, drives us to choose what it is we see and don’t see. I like to remove the filters and open a window, just a crack, onto a world where we experience rather than perceive.


credits

Picture

dances for small spaces  -  AME
2010 - Bravo!Fact

Rather than a film adaptation of reality or a choreographic or a pedantic exploration of the pedestrian workings of the body "AME" explores the movement potential locked in the physical relationship that develops between a dancer and their environment.  Using the environment in ways that are far outside the functional design of its architecture results in the creation of a dynamic structure that is driven by the natural tension that exists between proposition and purpose. This is direction through misdirection, story by suggestion and is fundamentally a scenario driven by the endless possibilities derived from the study of transformation.

In terms of cinematography I use the medium of film to extend the human body and to challenge the natural forces that act to either enable or hinder movement. In some instances this is achieved by taking advantage of editing techniques that not only alter the speed of a sequence but also shift both the initiating force and dynamic inertia away from the organic. In this way I provide the viewer with an alternate reality by developing and adopting methods that separate the result from the expected. Through the post production manipulation of footage, speed and other types of dynamic structures will be constructed and deconstructed in an attempt to project a second sense of the physical onto the dancer’s body. 

credits

Picture

dances for small spaces - Trio 
2008 - coming soon

"Trio” was shot in 2008 and was intended to be the first film in the series. However for one reason or another it has taken until now to deliver the final version……….Dances for Small Spaces is a title for a series of several site-specific short films choreographed for and performed in unusually small places. 

The series, dances for small spaces, was born from a desire to use the medium of film as tool for creating and altering a works substance in ways that only media based art can. From the first to the last moment, the medium of film is used as a means of actively interacting with both the location’s architecture and the movement’s kinetic potential. This merging of influences inevitably leads to a dialogue between the camera, environment and choreography, which naturally extends shared control of the creation and direction of work.

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