Dance for Modern Times

'Dance for Modern Times' is a feature-length documentary exploring the world of contemporary dance through the work of six renowned Canadian choreographers. The work of James, Kudelka, Danny Grossman, Christopher House, David Earle and Ginette Laurin are profiled in a colourful 77 minute film revealing the great richness of dance culture in Canada. Narrated in the form of a personal diary by director Moze Mossanen, the film presents some of the crowing achievements of Canadian modern dance and hopes to achieve an understanding and appreciation of not only contemporary dance but dance as of the greatest modes of artistic expression. The choreographers and works featured in the film represent an incredible diversity of dance in Canada which over the years has received the enthusiastic responses of both the public and the critics. Encompassing many ideas and themes about modern times, each of the featured artists demonstrate a unique personal style: The fantastic surrealism of Ginette Laurin, the bright elegance of David Earle, the kineticism of Danny Grossman and Christopher House, and the dramatic emotionality of Kudelka. The film is, in effect, an opportunity to share with six formidable artists an array of movements which are the cornerstone of contemporary Canadian dance culture, and an exploration into the nature of choreography, offering numerous variations of a style that has greatly marked the art of the twentieth century. The featured choreographic works in the film include Christopher House's 'Glass Houses', a midway ride of fast, dynamic and risky movement; 'Full House', Laurin's reflections of life in the 1950s; 'In Paradisum', Kudelka's ground- breaking dissemination of a life passing; 'Sacra Conversazione', Earle's brilliant interpretation of Mozart's 'Requiem'; and 'Endangered Species', Grossman's devastating portrait of the horrors of war.