Review: One More Edit, Bristol Old Vic online

An art gallery, a running track and men dressed in femme clothing. This collection of short dance films offers an eclecticism of performances to see you through until May 2.

Curated by Bristol-based company Impermanence, One More Edit is a diverse selection of short dance films showcasing UK and international artists.

Comprised of ten pieces varying from one to 30 minutes, the collection showcases a refreshing and diverse range of choreography, ideas, scores and settings,

The selection opens with themes we have become all-too familiar with. As enigmatic long-takes of dancers move across an athletics track, Jack Thomson’s We Are Ready Now explores the experiences of being both together and alone through time.

GOLDFISH by Bristol-based filmmakers Karni and Saul offers a playful representation of the physical and emotional confinement many of us have felt over the past year, as dancer Natalia Iwaniek moves pushed up against the window of a front room.

Impermanences’s own contribution to the line-up, Enemy of the Stars, is a response to Wyndham Lewis’ 1914 short play of the same name.

Josh Ben-Tovim’s stirring choreography is performed by two male dancers, with sparse cinematography set against a derelict gorge. A portrayal of the millions of soldiers who would later lose their lives in World War One, these new creative directors have captured the virility and tragedy associated with a war-torn generation well.

The intimacy of the piece immediately draws you in, the dancer’s heavy breathing and expression captured by the cameras. The pair move with strength and fluidity, which is punctuated by uncertain moments of contortion and chaos. To this Hollie Harding & Ben Oliver’s unpredictable, eerie score is a fitting background.

Dancing to Art from Corali was another standout choice. A company led by performers with a learning disability, the four-person film offers the dancer’s personal interpretations of works hanging on the walls in one of Tate Britain’s art galleries, This film is a colourful reminder of the joys all arts offer us for self-expression, and the excitement when these are combined.

The inclusion of Edits Film from The Featherstonehaughs, (now a disbanded company) also felt particularly special. This film of the all-male group by Marisa Zanetti follows the six dancers who, dressed as women, explore archetypal expressions of femininity. By following the dancers both on and off stage, the film throws up some interesting questions about gender norms as a performance.

GOLDFISH by Karni and Saul featuring dancer Natalia Iwaniek. Photo: Karni Arieli

Whilst we are all missing the energy of live theatre, these short films are a reminder of the creative opportunities brought when the physical stage is removed as an option.

They showcase the different experience that can be gleaned when choreography is combined with cinematography, visual effects and the environment and their international scope highlights the universal language of movement.

Main photo: Edits Film by Marisa Zanotti, featuring dancers from The Featherstonehaughs by Pau Ros Photography/PAUPHOTO

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