"We never remember days, only moments." ~ Cesare Pavese
AnA Collaborations (dancer/choreographers Alex Jenkins and Audrey Rachelle) have created a film entitled SEASONED. The film premiered in late July 2017 down at The Wild Project. At that time, I was still in the recovery phase of my hip arthritis ordeal; but the collaborators have very kindly sent me a Vimeo of the entire film to view at home. I've finally found time this afternoon to watch it, and it's a finely-crafted film that resonates deeply.
Alex Jenkins is the central figure in SEASONED: her distinctive and quite mesmerizing screen presence alone is enough to sustain our interest in watching the 20-minute film. Cinematographer Blake Horn has wisely let nothing intrude on Ms. Jenkins' charismatic persona; rather, he enhances it at every turn.
The four seasons are evoked in this reflective work; in each of its four segments, Ms. Jenkins shares the screen with an equally compelling lover or partner in her journey.
Autumn is handsomely filmed against a backdrop of yellow leaves; Ms. Jenkins finds herself in this woodland glade with Jon Ole Olstad. Their intimacy is easy, loving, and joyous, and their pas de deux is at once earthbound and dreamy. Everything about this scene is perfectly natural and spontaneous, even to the point of feeling that's it's been shot in one take.
In Winter, the cinematographer dazzles us with chiaroscuro effects. We are in a dark, unfurnished, rustic cabin but thru the windows the reflected glare of a snow-covered landscape makes for brilliant contrast. Here, Ms. Jenkins' partner is Cameron McKinney, whose alluring sculpted torso is ideally displayed in the contrasted light. Perhaps suffering from cabin fever, this couple's love is rougher, with an unkind edge. Their choreography is gestural and more angular, and occasionally there are cutbacks to Ms. Jenkins' happier times in Autumn. Desperate to escape, Mr. McKinney leaps out of a window and races away into forest. Ms. Jenkins pursues him.
The Winter lovers are never re-united. Instead, in Spring, Ms. Jenkins - after running and seeking - encounters a contemporary wood-nymph, played by Ms. Rachelle. They bask in a mud bath and communicate on a primeval level.
Finally, in Summer, we experience a beautifully-framed underwater pas de deux, with Ms. Jenkins and Nick Korkos floating weightlessly across the screen, their bodies alternately entwining and drifting apart. Their hypnotic duet has a sense of quiet ecstasy, and of time standing still.
At the Wild Project premiere of SEASONED, while this aquatic duet is being shown, Ms. Jenkins and Mr. Korkos (above, in a Scott Shaw photo) appeared live onstage, dancing together in a duet of passion, tenderness, and supplication. While perfectly dovetailed to the filmed sequence, this live duet has a distinct power of its own as a viable, free-standing dancework.
More of Scott Shaw's images:
Watch the SEASONED trailer here.
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