THE WORLD DANCE

by Francesca Marchesini and Vanessa Mangiavacca
In collaboration with dAS Festival

In film, I can make the world dance. So wrote Maya Deren, one of the most important personalities in avant-garde cinema, forerunner of what would be later defined as choreographic cinema. According to Maya Deren’s way of thinking, we should observe and imagine the world as a big stage where dancing bodies can perform.

The history of dance and the history of civilization go hand in hand, from religious rituals to theatrical representations. In contemporary society, claiming a space through body movement is still a political gesture, especially when the plurality of identities linked to this movement are fluid, non-compliant with the dominant way of thinking. Dance is a primordial instinct that pushes to move, an element of spontaneity, emancipation, community, and self-expression. A population that cannot dance is an oppressed population and the different ways in which this art expresses itself within a society are the symbol of its freedom. Therefore, we must ask ourselves: can I dance into this house? Can I dance in these streets? Can I dance in the world? 

This is the underlying idea that guides the new thematic focus of Concorto Film Festival, coupled with a talk on the very same topic with dAS Festival, created in collaboration with dAS Festival, the first multidisciplinary festival dedicated to the arts of dance and choreography in Piacenza.

Short films featured: