Dance Camera West (DCW) contemplated whether to forge ahead with the popular dance film festival, deciding just days ago to postpone only the festival highlight in honour of dance icon and filmmaker David Roussève. Despite this change, as of this moment, the festival will go on.
DCW notified their members that the festival will take place but the special retrospective and private reception that was planned for Roussève would likely happen at a future date when the impact of the California wildfires subsides.
Festival organizers say that given the current circumstances in Los Angeles and the “limited bandwidth” of their organizers, they do not feel they have “the resources and joie de vivre needed to celebrate this great man in the manner he deserves.”
Organizers say they plan to wait “until the city is healed” before presenting the full-scale event as they originally planned.
The decision to continue with the festival was a tough one. They wonder if people would find it difficult to focus on a celebratory festival of the arts under such devastating circumstances. Would there be resentment if they held a dance film festival while the city was burning?
After consulting with their partners and the extended community they made a collective decision. They were reminded that in times of crisis a celebration would raise community spirit. For a moment, there would be relief from the pressures of living through a catastrophe. The event would be a source of inspiration.
The fact that they can provide a space where people could come together, support one another and heal through artistic expression was the guiding light behind DCW’s decision. Such is the power of the arts.
After witnessing Roussève’s dance-theatre, Sarah Kaufman of The Washington Post wrote that the artist allows both “grief and joy to hit you at once.”
Considering the weight and impact of the artist’s work, audiences will be better able to receive it after some healing has taken place. And it’s one more beautiful moment of inspiration to look forward to in the future.
See some of the highlights from the Dance Camera West film festival.
by Cherryl Bird – Toronto, Ontario, Canada
X @ladycbird | Instagram @cherrylbird
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