“Out Of Ruin” is described by Miki Ohlsen as a film “visually rich and kinetic allegory of individual clans in isolation, who journey to discover their paths and converge in a place of unity.” (Photo by Marta Renzi)
With its 2020 performance season cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Newport’s Island Moving Company responded to a time of uncertainty in resilient and creative fashion. The contemporary ballet company recently created a powerful and poetic dance film that is about unity, hope and human connection.
“Out of Ruin,” a 15-minute film conceived and choreographed by IMC’s artistic director Miki Ohlsen and associate artistic director Danielle Genest, and produced by IMC’s executive director Peter Bramante, was shot over several days in July at four distinct outdoor locations around Newport County: Conanicut Battery Historic Park and Fort Wetherill, both in Jamestown; Fort Adams in Newport; and Union Cemetery in Little Compton.
Directed by renowned dancer and filmmaker Marta Renzi, with cinematography by one of Renzi’s longtime collaborators, Jon Gourlay who is from Providence and a graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design, the film showcases IMC’s dancers in bold, graceful movements in the natural surroundings of each stirring and sumptuous setting.
Using a wide variety of musical composers, choreographers Miki Olsen and Danielle Genest worked with 13 dancers to relay feelings of “finding peace.” (Photo by Marta Renzi)
Ohlsen and Genest visited various sites before settling on the ones selected for the film.
“We wanted Newport Countywide, not just Newport. We chose those (locations) that spoke to us and choreographed to fit them,” she said.
The vacant stone forts, arches, large rocks and cliffs may represent ruins, but out of them comes a visually stunning celebration of human bodies and emotional connection, ending with all the dancers coming together in a distanced line at the edge of a cliff overlooking the sea and silhouetted against the sky.
“Out of Ruin,” said Ohlsen, is IMC’s response to the general state of the world, not any specific current event such as COVID-19 or the Black Lives Matter movement. “We hope, in the end, that the film is what we wanted to say. It’s a coming together politically, physically,” she said.
“Out of Ruin” will have its world premiere, red carpet screening and reception on Oct. 2, at 6:30 p.m., at Cardines Field. There will be another screening at Blithewold Mansion in Bristol on Oct. 8 at 6:30 p.m. Screenings will follow all state physical distancing guidelines.
Loren King is an arts and entertainment writer whose work appears regularly in The Boston Globe and other publications.
The film will carry a COVID-19 disclaimer about how it was shot. Ohlsen said once the locations were chosen, the company broke into small groups or “pods” and rehearsed onsite for five weeks. There was no intersecting of the pods and each dancer wore a face covering. At the end of the rehearsal period, everyone was tested for COVID-19 and, with uniform negative results, each was able to shoot the film without masks. The dancers who come in close physical contact in the film are partners in life, she said.
The same protocol is followed with IMC’s live performances. Ohlsen said IMC “made a contract with ourselves that everyone would self-quarantine all summer except for working with their own pods.”
The dancers are all young people, she adds, but “the work was the most important thing to them. We are still working this way.”
The IMC dancers featured in the film are Deanna Gerde, Rhea Keller, Raum Aron Gens-Ostrowsi, Tarryn Stewart, Emily Baker, Lauren Difede, Jose Losada, Emily Small, Gregory Tyndall, Brooke DiFrancesco, Tara Gragg, Timur Kan and Katie Moorhead.
“Out of Ruin” is the first dance film produced by IMC. The company has routinely made videos of its stage productions, but “Out of Ruin” was conceived entirely as a film and “the only way to provide meaningful work for the dancers,” said Ohlsen.
Following the local screenings, “Out of Ruin” will be submitted into dance film festivals, said Ohlsen. Renzi has created more than 20 short films, which have screened in more than 100 festivals. Her Project Company received a New York Dance and Performance Award (called a “Bessie”) in 1992 and the first Dancing in the Streets award in 1995.
Besides creating “Out of Ruin,” IMC has been engaged in pop-up performances throughout Newport County over the past month. The next live performance is “eMERGE!” offering a selection of new and restaged repertory works. It takes place Oct. 9-10 at 6:30 p.m., and Oct. 11 at 4 p.m. at the outdoor stage at Blithewold Gardens and Arboretum in Bristol. The event will adhere to all CDC and state guidelines and safety protocols, including the use of face masks by all attendees.
For tickets and more information, visit islandmovingco.org.
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