Moving Portraits
2021
Moving Portraits tells a story of a world beyond this boundary.
From the reality of two people’s mundane existence stuck inside, we see them dream of a different, more exciting life.
In a landscape where possibilities feel endless and there are chances for new pathways to be carved, why is it that their paths always seem to lead them back to one another?
Moving Portraits is a short dance film that looks at themes of self-reflection and the dynamic between two people stuck in the same space.
The work creates beautiful and rich images of dancers Gabby Sanders and Beatriz C. Bidault in a fantastical, dreamy landscape that is then contrasted with a mundane reality of two people stuck in a routine, stuck inside, and stuck with each other.
The work also looks at metaphors of a mirror. Beatriz and Gabby hold a mirror up to one another, it gives them a chance to look inwards, to reflect.
Watch the trailer
Moving Portraits poem
Behind closed doors
These rooms hold still our bodies
Inside open minds
Room to grow a hundred futures
from the seed of every thought
Scenes that don’t stay long in daylight
Tell stories of a world beyond this boundary
We flip through endless nows when things get quiet
We’ve had a lot of silence lately
Past the sticky and unyielding grip of maybe
Home disperses for new edges formed of land and sea
Tumble across worlds possibility
Carried by stories we told while we were waiting
Inner worlds held up by outer shells
Each sealed to keep our fears from spilling over
The spinning thoughts that make our minds ourselves
Weave landscapes that our bones and skin keep covered
Taught threads loosen at the edges of our meeting seams
Thoughts tread the unsteady patters of our lives
Peer over the precipice at choices
Light up horizon with chances
Our dreams shape what is and what could be
And in the soil of these moments, our future years are planted
By Lila Rasche
All photo credits: Olivia Jackson Photography
Supported by
Credits
Artistic Director: Amy Morvell
Choreography/ Direction: Amy Morvell
Produced in Association with Lîla Dance
Dancers and choreography collaborators: Gabby Sanders & Beatriz C. Bidault
Music and sound design: Monika Błaszczak
Editor: Amy Morvell
Edit support: Abi Mortimer & Carrie Whitaker
Dramaturgy: Nick Walker
Producer: Abi Mortimer
Consultancy and Mentorship: Lou Rogers, Carrie Whitaker, Abi Mortimer
Costume Design: Amy Morvell
Photography & creative assistant: Olivia Jackson
Writer: Lila Rasche
Film mentors: Joshua Thompson, Alice Underwood, Alex Kyrou
Creative collaborators: Ethan Mckeegan, Olivia Jackson, Abi Mortimer
Health and Safety Manager: Natalie Rowland
Interviewees
Teresa Skamletz
Ella Place
Madison Burgess
Anja Nash
Keeleigh Hamilton
Tia Irons
Polly Constance
Amy Lyster
Tara Choudrie
Divija Melall
Ethan Mckeegan
Courtney McCarthy
Gabby Sanders
Beatriz C. Bidault