8-Count

amalgaMOTION

Co-Directed by Adam Daniel Mezei and Crystal Finn-Dunn
Collective / Performed by Tariq Chin, O'Shani Cardwell, Mike Smith, Gautam Tiwari, Matthew Cuff, Crystal Finn-Dunn, Natalie Poirier, Joel Famadico, Jr., Victoria Barrie, Julia Walton, Raoul Pillay, Indiana Mehta

A visually stunning celebration of diverse dance styles fusing into harmony. Captivating choreography, mesmerizing synergy. Prepare for a fascinating journey where cultures unite through dance.

Burn From the Inside

By Cassa Pancho's Ballet Black.
Directed and Choreographed by Mthuthuzeli November.

Note Burn From the Inside is available to stream for Canadian audiences only.

Reflecting on personal experiences, a childhood memory emerges from the Eastern Cape. Gathered inside a hut, family members would chant while a fire crackled in the sand. The ambiance created by this ritualistic chanting became a favourite lullaby, transporting the young narrator to a state of pure tranquility. In creating Burn from the Inside Mthuthuzeli sought to capture this communal feeling through the film's unique approach. By immersing oneself in the collective experience, viewers have the opportunity to delve into individual journeys and explore the expansiveness of the depicted space. The film aims to evoke a trance-like state, reminiscent of the personal experiences of the creator. The focus shifts from visual imagery to capturing the essence of being in a trance. It becomes an exploration of what it feels like to exist in a space where time and space lose their boundaries, and the driving beat becomes the guiding force.

Challah

Choreographed and performed by Karen and Allen Kaeja.
Directed by Moze Mossanen.

Part of the Kitchen Dances series of five short films, Challah is about a couple, Allen and Karen, who reflect on the importance of their Holocaust ancestry to their current lives and family.

Circular Labyrinth

Choreographed by Margie Gillis.
Directed by Louis-Martin Charest.
Performed by Ruth Naomi Levin.

Circular Labyrinth is a film about the process of navigating love, loss and identity as a human being. How do we find centre amidst longing? How do we find self alongside other? How can sorrow lead us to surrender? Circular Labyrinth shows a human being in the continual process of locating, defining and navigating home. She is afloat, circling in the amorphous, ever-shifting, seemingly repetitive world of longing, relationship, loss and memory; perpetually reaching for love. As she reaches more completely, so she falls more fully. Only, she finds, grace is there to catch her. Carrying her to a centre more loving and truer than ever she knew before.

The Euphorian

A film by William Yong.
Choreography by Lina Cruz.
Featuring Sylvie Bouchard.
Produced by BoucharDanse.

Like the original choreography that inspired this film, The Euphorian elaborates a fantasy around the Picasso painting La buveuse assoupie / The Absinthe Drinker. A woman appears uninhibited and unrestrained, though her loneliness is palpable. Her smile directed at no one, perhaps at herself, or at the fragility of life.

Locked

Choreographed by Roberto Campanella.
Directed by Moze Mossanen.
Performed by Dani Jazzar and Johanna Bergfelt.

Part of the Kitchen Dances series of five short films, Locked is about a couple struggles for ways to cope with the emotional challenges of isolation with a startling use of film editing to create vivid choreographic effects.

Lucid Space

Directed and Choreographed by Geanderson Mello and Mio Sakamoto

Lucid Space explores the power of dreams to free us from the confines imposed on us by society. The film follows a woman as she encounters misogyny and mundanity in her day-to-day life. In the mirror she sees only distortions of her true self - reflected back at her are all the labels that have been thrust upon her by others. One day, she visits a strange place in her dreams and begins to regain control of her life.

Reflejos del Tiempo (Reflections of Time)

By Esmeralda Enrique Spanish Dance Company.
Directed by William Yong

How can we discover all the mysteries that lie within us? Symbolic rituals and customs have satisfied spiritual and emotional needs over time. Yet perceptions and opinions about traditions that we adhere to can change. How do we preserve the integrity of tradition? At the heart of our dance, we draw upon flamenco’s prodigious power, reflected in its unique ability to move us, in all our shared emotions.