Projects

Arts Commissioning and Preservation Project:
American Ballet Theater Film Documentation Project

This project produced a film based on sixty hours of recorded film material of the American Ballet Theatre Studio Company's ballet, "Ghost Light" by choreographer Brian Reeder, which was commissioned by the University at Buffalo and performed at UB, at the Shea's Performing Arts Center in Buffalo, New Orleans, and most recently in New York City.

 

A two-hour film, 15 Days of Dance: The Making of "Ghost Light", documenting the creative process was produced as well as a longer, eighteen-hour series for distribution to national and international premiere performing arts libraries and educational institutions. The film is premiering at the Lincoln Center in NYC and a 19-disc DVD compilation will also be available.

 

Arts Commission Project:
The Bridge Project: An International Art Initiative
Richard Foreman and Sophie Haviland

The Bridge Project, created by Richard Foreman and Sophie Haviland, is an international art exchange between countries around the world through workshops, symposiums, theater productions, visual art, performance and multimedia events. Foreman and Haviland have taken The Bridge to nine countries and involved over 300 professional artists and students from different backgrounds. With their unique aesthetic approach, Foreman and Haviland are creating new dimensions in the narrative form.

 

The Center for the Moving Image in Buffalo was the first location chosen in the United States to host this project. During their two-week residency with the CMI in Spring 2009, Foreman and Haviland worked with students and faculty to create raw film material - 'seed material' – for an online database made available to artists to create new work. Seven graduate students in our program are currently working on their own films based on this footage and are planning a screening in Buffalo and New York City.

 

Collaborative Music and Film Project for Live Performance:
David Felder and Elliot Caplan

Elliot Caplan and composer David Felder completed their first, very successful music and film collaboration "Shamayim", which consists of three parts; "Chashmal", "Sa'arah", and "Black Fire/White Fire". The entire series is 38 minutes long and includes bass voice, 8 channels of electronics, images by Caplan, and specialized audio programming by Olivier Pasquet, Ben Thigpen, and JT Rinker. Parts of this series have been performed in Lyon, Athens, Milan, Barcelona, Paris, Berlin, Palo Alto, and Buffalo. A DVD documenting the entire performance has been produced incorporating footage of a live performance.

 

 

Poetics of Movement - A Workshop on Film and Movement

Steve Reich and Elliot Caplan at Poetics Workshop

A hands-on 6-day intensive workshop conducted by Elliot Caplan with guest composer Steve Reich, poet Carl Dennis, director/video artist Beryl Korot, and television/video editor Dann Kahn. This workshop is intended for professionals or students interested in using film and digital arts as collaborative tools for the exploration of movement in all art forms including dance, theatre, and the visual arts.