David Roussève's movies are meditations on personal and interpersonal truths

Welcome to Reel Motion, a series of blog posts that examine the Northrop Film Series selections. Find out more about the screening of Bittersweet and Two Seconds After Laughter on Wed, Apr 10 at 6:30 pm ahead of David Roussève/REALITY's performance at Northrop on Sat, Apr 13.

Drawing on his childhood growing up surrounded by strong women, David Roussève weaves the echoes of his childhood observations about those women into an inspired fictional narrative of Bittersweet. Bittersweet was Roussève's first solo foray into directing for film. His use of close-ups is both experimental and at the same time, expertly deployed. Hauntingly scored by Nina Simone, Bittersweet is 15 minutes of poetically feeling the mysterious internal moments in the lives of three women of color in 1940s America. In this, Roussève creates a joyous and tragic intersection of dance, gesture, and dialogue on the human condition.

And although Roussève maintains his second work for film, Two Seconds After Laughter, is not a documentary, it has been programmed in that category in some of the 45 film festivals in 11 countries where it has been screened. A dreamlike quality pervades the film in which choreographer Sri Susilowati’s reflects on her life after she returns to her family home in Java after 20 years of living in America. Using a visual and choreographic vocabulary that blends traditional Indonesian dance with western post-modern gestures, these elements influence the cinematographic language of the film.

For this final entry in the 2018-19 Dance Film Series we will have David Roussève himself at the screenings Wed, Apr 10 to discuss the films. This is the first time the Dance Film Series will feature the director (and choreographer as well), and I hope you'll come see these two jewels of dance on film.

Shayna Houp is Northrop's Artist Services Manager and curates the Film Series each season.

What I’ll watch for in In the Upper Room, Songs of Bukovina

“The photos don’t do it justice,” I told my boss in October immediately after we both saw American Ballet Theatre perform Twyla Tharp’s In the Upper Room at the David H. Koch Theater. 

As Northrop’s Communications Manager, one of the easiest parts of my job helping to market dance performances is having access to the strong, compelling visuals that convey the drama and athleticism of the pieces.

And even though we had been using a variety of ABT-approved images for In the Upper Room—featuring a variety of dancers in black and white striped costumes with red socks or white shoes—I was struck immediately how seeing the performance live is so different from just seeing the images (and even watching the videos). Neither fully capture the playfulness, the fluidity, the increasing intensity—nor do they tap into Philip Glass’ spectacular soundscape that fits perfectly with the choreography.

I’m excited to see ABT perform the piece again Tue, Apr 2 to compare my initial reaction to another viewing, more informed about the piece since seeing it in New York. In this blog post, I learned about the creative process involved when Twyla Tharp first began rehearsing the piece, that the two groups of dancers called themselves Bunheads and Stompers, and a fascinating tidbit that Glass’ music was absolutely perfect on the first run through: “As we came rushing to the final movements of the section and hit the last pose, the music and movement ended at the exact same time. We all just stood in silence and in shock. It was the oddest feeling—like it was meant to be,” writes dancer Jamie Bishton.

Another element I will particularly look for is the haze used in the performance. I recall seeing the fog during the New York performance but since then, Northrop has conducted a trial run of the effect and discovered it can fill the theater if conducted as a worst-case scenario. We all learned from that test and have adjusted.

Another piece I saw during that October performance, Songs of Bukovina, also is on the Apr 2 program. It opened the evening and reminded me of a time when my husband and I were traveling through Europe and witnessed a magical street folk dance in Romania years ago. Alexi Ratmansky’s ballet is set in Bukovina, Romania and tells a similar story.

The third piece I experienced in October was the premiere of Jessica Lang’s Garden Blue, featuring principal dancers Misty Copeland, Herman Cornejo, Stella Abrera, and others. It was a treasure to see Copeland dance and we realized later Lang was just two rows in front of us for the premiere. While this piece is not part of Northrop’s program, I am very much looking forward to seeing Songs of Bukovina and In the Upper Room again and glad the order remains the same, ending with Tharp’s propulsive piece. See for yourself to do it justice.