THIERRY DE MEY's "Ma Mère l'Oye"

Composer and filmmaker Thierry De Mey's short film set to Maurice Ravel's "Ma Mère l'Oye"(Mother Goose) was created in 2004 by commission from ARTE. The ballet written in 1908 is inspired by the fairy tales of Charles Perrault. This 28-minute film is a fascinating collage filmed in the woods outside Brussels.

Part 1 - Ma Mère l'Oye


Part 2 - Ma Mère l'Oye


Part 3 - Ma Mère l'Oye

Links:

Ma Mère l'Oye (PACT Zollverein)
Thierry de Mey profile(Charleroi Danses)
"Ma Mère l'Oye" (ARTE - French/German)
ARTE (French/German)
"Ma Mère l'Oye" (Festival of Films on Art)
Charles Perrault Wiki
"Ma Mère l'Oye" Wiki
Maurice Ravel Wiki

Featurette: LA LA LA HUMAN STEPS

Founded by Édouard Lock in 1980, La La La Human Steps is a Quebec-based contemporary dance group known for their intense expression, speed and bold productions. I find it difficult to put into words the sublime effect of their work but the clips below do give a good indication of their voice.

I will be coming back to La La La Human Steps in more detail later. In the meantime, enjoy these samples.

Exaucé/Salt


Amelia

Links:
La La La Human Steps
LLLHS (Canada Council for the Arts)
Édouard Lock interview (French/video)
Édouard Lock Interview transcript (English)
Review of Amjad(The Dance Current)
LLLHS Wiki

Jehane Noujaim's PANGEA DAY

For those of you following the WIRE, you'll know that I am a great admirer of the TED(Technology. Entertainment. Design) series of lectures. Each year a TED prize is issued from a broad range of disciplines and in 2006, the winner was filmmaker Jehane Noujaim who was granted $100,000. Her aspiration was to create a day which would bring the world together through film and thus Pangea Day was born.

Here is the English trailer(Click HERE for additional languages):

And here is Kenya sings for India, one of the Imagine anthems:

This is Japan sings for Turkey (click HERE to view in high resolution):

From the organisers:

In a world where people are often divided by borders, difference, and conflict, it's easy to lose sight of what we all have in common. Pangea Day seeks to overcome that -- to help people see themselves in others -- through the power of film.

On May 10, 2008 -- Pangea Day -- sites in Cairo, Kigali, London, Los Angeles, Mumbai, and Rio de Janeiro will be linked to produce a 4-hour program of powerful films, visionary speakers, and uplifting music. The program will be broadcast live to the world through the Internet, television, digital cinemas, and mobile phones.

Pangea is the name of the original super-continent which contained all the world's land mass before the continents started splitting apart 250 million years ago. We're launching Pangea Day with the vision that the people of the world can begin to overcome their divisions, and that the power of film can help make it possible.

Movies can't change the world. But the people who watch them can.

Jehane Noujaim is also the director of the highly recommended film Control Room, a documentary on Al Jazeera putting forward an alternative vantage point on the Iraq War and media in general.

UPDATE: Here are the first 20 minutes...

Links:
Pangea Day

Pangea Day (YouTube)
Jehane Noujaim - Pangea Day (TED talks)
Jehane Noujaim Wiki
Jehane Noujaim (TED profile)
Jehane Noujaim interview (BBC)
Noujaim Films
TED Talks (YouTube)

SOURCE: Dek at NoFatClips

Björk, Encyclopedia Pictura, & Stereogum

Two new treats for fans of Bjork: the video for Wanderlust, the fourth track from her album Volta and a free remix of her album Post. The video has been created by Encyclopedia Pictura and the remix album is from Stereogum and is titled Enjoyed: A Tribute to Bjork's Post.

The video for Wanderlust has been gestating for the last 9 months with Encyclopedia Pictura who has been responsible for some unique creations in the last few years. Finally born, the video which can be viewed in 3D or 2D is a delicious blend of organic elements and ingenious craft which is fertile with textures, ideas, and feelings.

Below is the full, flash video for Wanderlust. Alternatively, the high resolution Quicktime version is available HERE on the Encyclopedia Pictura site though it is quite slow at the moment due to demand.

Encyclopedia Pictura are filmmakers Isaiah Saxon and Sean Hellfritsch. More about the making of the film can be seen on video at the New York Times website HERE as well as HERE at Bjork's MySpace. The pair were also interviewed at Studio Daily and I have compiled a sample of their other work HERE.


Links:
Bjork.com
Encyclopedia Pictura
Stereogum - Bjork
New York Sun - Wanderlust article
New York Times - Wanderlust video
One Little Indian records
Encyclopedia Pictura interview (Studio Daily)
Encyclopedia Pictura interview (Dazed Digital)
Siouxfire Encyclopedia Pictura collection
Free 3D specs

Interview: KLAUS OBERMAIER

Klaus Obermaier is a media artist, director, composer, and lecturer. Working in dance, music, theatre, new media and creating interactive installations, video art, web projects, computer music, radio plays, and large scale outdoor performances, his work has innovated, inspired, and has been well received by critics and spectators.

On Tuesday(26.6.07), Klaus with conductor Marin Alsop and the London Philharmonic Orchestra will perform a 21st century rendition of Igor Stravinsky's 'The Rite of Spring'(Le Sacre du Printemps) at the Southbank Centre, London. Dancer Julia Mach will perform within the virtual spaces created by Obermaier and interactive designers from the Ars Electronica Futurelab. Wearing 3D glasses, the audience will see Julia within the virtual world and her body itself will expand beyond reality.

I am extremely grateful to Klaus for sparing some time in the run up to this performance to answer my questions.

You have found ways to fuse and extend performers bodies. First, how do the performers themselves approach these fusions and how much control do they maintain in their performance? Second, is it important to you that the result looks natural(organic) and/or is an aesthetic of artifice an important part of the interpretation?
Both questions depend on each particular piece, as there is a big difference in the approach of for instance VIVISECTOR, APPARITION or Le Sacre du Printemps.


In Le Sacre du Printemps, I was doing the choreography and therefore was able to create my own kind of balance between real body (natural) and virtual. I was going for an aesthetic, where the human can interact with the realtime generated digital environment in a very natural way. The dance should work by its own, but also seamless fuse and interact with the digital environment. There is plenty of space for improvisation, but also the more strictly choreographed parts don't restrict the dancer regarding her performance, not more than in any conventional piece - Julia Mach keeps control.

READ THE FULL INTERVIEW BY CLICKING HERE

Interview: ICELANDIC LOVE CORPORATION

The Icelandic Love Corporation are enigmatic and their colourful, life affirming works are transient or anonymous. Because of this and having read numerous other interviews, I knew that this would be a challenge; a bit like catching smoke with a net or a scooping up the same piece of river more than once.

Their work spans a wide range of mediums including performance, sculpture, installations, music, film, television, painting, and literature. While certainly emotive, like their creators, the works are resistant to analysis. Trying to do so is rather pointless; a bit like trying to create a specific blueprint for how to run the rake through a Zen garden.

What I will say is that I find their work honest and refreshing with a seriousness that isn't cumbersome. As a whole, their body of work is like an ornate diary, a window into their own personal journeys with the most incredible, enlightening outlook.

In regards to the name of your group, would you explain the importance of the trio of words from which it is made: Icelandic, love, and corporation? And aside from the name itself, what changed between the group being known as Gjörningaklúbburinn and The Icelandic Love Corporation?
Well, we never thought about it as a trio of words, per se. When this name was first used, we were actually a quartet. Dóra Isleifsdóttir was a part of the group from 1996 - 2001. Why we chose those three exact words is both easy and hard to explain. Icelandic, well that's a fact. We are icelandic. Love. we like it. it is a strong idea. It is both a redeeming, creative and destructive element. but most of the time a very good thing. corporation.

"Some people seem to automatically connect the word love to something kitschy or childish. We really don't understand that."

Probably the megalomania in us back then was pretty strong. but also we thought it was funny. to be a corporation of four girls. We did not really sit around contemplating about this name for a very long time. it just seemed right. through the years we have thought about it from time to time and have grown to like it more and more. Some people seem to automatically connect the word love to something kitschy or childish. We really don't understand that. well partly we do, but we think that's unfair to love.

READ THE FULL INTERVIEW BY CLICKING HERE

KYLE RUDDICK & CARI ANN SHIM SHAM's "Are You for Real"

Kyle Ruddick and Cari Ann Shim Sham's video for ambient Ohio band, Low in the Sky's "Are You for Real" is an interesting work. It reminds me of one of my my favourite scenes in cinema--the paper consumption from Terry Gilliam's Brazil. The use of colour(or non-use), minimal dance, and effects pair well with the Low in the Sky's music. The video is presented below in Flash format and can also be downloaded in Quicktime HERE from Eyestorm.

Cari Ann is a choreographer and dance filmmaker, and Kyle Ruddick is the founder of Eyestorm Productions. An earlier video for Low in the Sky for the song "Cool Sanson" as well an interview with its director Tyler James is available in an earlier post HERE.

Links:
Eyestorm Productions
Direct Download (Quicktime)
YouTube Link
Cari Ann Shim Sham Myspace
Cari Ann Shim Sham YouTube
Low in the Sky Myspace
Low in the Sky's "Cool Sanson"
Antville (source)

Dance: SANKAI JUKU

Founded by artistic director, Ushio Amagatsu, in 1975, Sankai Juku is a unique dance troop with which Butoh is an expression of the language of body exploring the relationship between body and gravity, gravity to earth and the environment. They have been premiering a new piece roughly every two years at the Théâtre de la Ville, Paris.

Their works are abstract, employing a hefty amount of metaphor and visuals that are at first alien, but then become familiar as the meaning floats to the surface. I know it all sounds abstract and perhaps a little "pretentious" but it's only pretentious if the creator has no idea what their doing aside from being like someone/something else. I don't believe that's the case with Amagatsu.

If they swing your way, take the opportunity to see them perform and judge for yourself. Visit their official site for their schedule of upcoming shows.

As a taster, here's Ushio Amagatsu's take on their work Kagemi:

The Kage of Kagemi is shadow
The light of contrast, the image in the mirror of water's surface
The mi is seeing and being seen

Some say Kagemi is the ancient origin of "mirror" (kagemi)
In light, the surface that reflects and is reflected, looked into and looking back
Surface beginning in the horizontal water plane and transforming to
the perpendicular face

From an ambiguous and transient state to one clearly outlined
The right hand asks, the left hand answers
Once an imaginary surface is defined

Here is a video of one of their performances:

Sankai Juku - kewego
Sankai Juku, compagnie de danseurs japonais

Links:
Sankai Juku official site (English/Japanese)
Interview with Amagatsu (English/German)
Another interview with Amagatsu
Wiki