Northern dance film initiative
The Northern Dance Film Initiative (NDFI) is a project that aims to support artists in the creation and development of dance films in Northern Ontario.
NDFI 2023 - Call for Applications are now OPEN!
Calling out to all dance and movement artists in Sudbury and the surrounding area! Branch Collective’s application for the Northern Dance Film Initiative is open. After our first year of running this program and producing DANCE ONSCREEN, our team is once again embracing some new ideas within this project. Take a read through the project description and timeline to see if this project is a good fit for you!
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This year, the Northern Dance Film Initiative’s goals are focused on supporting dance/movement artists as the lead artist in the creation and production of original dance films. This means eligible applicants must identify as a dance or movement artist and be willing to undertake leading the creation of a dance film. 3 applicants will be selected as leads for their projects and awarded $3,000.00 each to go towards the creation of a new dance film. With the support of Branch Collective, each lead will create a project plan, and budget, and build a collaborative team for their dance film. Each lead is required to apply for one grant of their choice with the goal of acquiring funding, expanding the budget of their dance film. Although the three leads are creating their own films, work sessions will be held for the artists to come together and support each other as colleagues in addition to working with Branch Collective. The timeline of this project has been extended, providing the leads with 1 year to produce their dance films, which will premiere at DANCE ONSCREEN in the fall of 2024. Collaboration between art forms has not been forgotten! It will be the responsibility of each lead to determine who they collaborate with to create their dance film.
SUMMARY
3 dance/movement artists will be selected to lead the creation of their dance film and awarded $3,000 each from Branch Collective
each lead will be required to apply for a minimum of one grant to add to the financial support provided by Branch Collective
each lead will have quarterly meetings with Branch Collective to ensure ongoing support in the development of their project plan, budget, contracts, grant applications, etc
the leads will attend 2-4 collaborative work sessions to meet as colleagues, providing each other with feedback, brainstorming sessions, and a safe space to discuss their ideas
the completed dance films will premiere at DANCE ONSCREEN 2024
TIMELINE
August 1, 2023 - Applications OPEN!
August 31, 2023 - Applications DUE!
September 1-8, 2023 - Applications assessed and accepted artists meet with Branch Collective
September 2023-August 2024 - Quarterly meetings with Branch Collective AND 2-4 work sessions with your fellow colleagues/participating artists
September 1, 2024 - Films are DUE!
Fall 2024 - Films premiere at DANCE ONSCREEN
Please note the following 2023/2024 grant deadlines:
October 4, 2023 - Canada Council for the Arts, Explore and Create grant deadline
October 5, 2023 - Ontario Arts Council, Dance Projects grant deadline
November 8, 2023 - Ontario Arts Council, Northern Arts grant deadline
January/February 2024 (TBA) - City of Sudbury, Small Projects grant deadline
***the grants listed above are programs that are likely eligible for all applicants of the NDFI project. However, NDFI applicants are not constrained to this list.
***if you are considering applying for the NDFI, it is recommended (not mandatory) that you take a look at the grant programs and consider their funding amounts, deadlines, and requirements. The Canada and Ontario art councils require applicants to create an account that takes up to 1 month to get approved.
ELIGIBILITY
identify as a dance or movement artist
currently based in Sudbury or the surrounding area
18 years of age or older
complete the application below
***all accepted artists will be required to have access to a working computer, webcam, and internet for meetings, work sessions, project planning, and grant submissions.
APPLICATION
Many of the sections below list multiple prompts or questions. These are to get you thinking. Answer in a way that best shares with our group who you are as an artist, what kind of art you make or want to make, and why this project is interesting to you.
If you have any questions or other ideas you would like to run by us, please email Mikaela at mikaela@madeformovers.com. Please allow for 1 week's response time.
2022
In the summer of 2022, collaboration was the theme of the NDFI. Branch Collective released a call for choreographers, musicians, and filmmakers to complete a form of interest that asked the artists to describe a bit of their artistic practice and why they are interested in collaborating to create digital dance art. Branch Collective assembled the artists into teams and the collaborations began! Below are the artists who graciously joined Branch Collective in our first iteration of this project. All films premiered at DANCE ONSCREEN in November 2022.
Kagige Entaglement
A meditation on contemporary hip hop culture, indigeneity, ecology and sound.
by Curtis Kagige / Elyse Portal / Emilio Portal
Dancing in the Doctor's Office
During the global Covid19 pandemic, Carly Stasko and her family isolated in the woods on the edge of Lake Nipissing in Ontario, Canada. To keep their spirits up they discovered the liberating joys of dancing outside and even managed to build a supportive virtual community during a time of heightened isolation and loneliness. This experimental documentary, artfully weaves more than two years personal footage as Carly navigates health challenges that force her and her family to race to Toronto for medical care. It is during vulnerable moments of fear and solitude in hospital waiting rooms and doctor’s offices, that Carly and her family reclaim a sense of power, place, hope and healing through dance and embodied creative expression. This short film was a collaboration made possible by the Branch Collective. After discussing the story concept in a virtual gathering, the musical team of Marc Donato and Michael Doni set about composing an emotionally rich musical piece that really set the project in motion. As soon as Carly, the videographer, editor, and dancer heard the original soundtrack she was inspired to tell an important and at times difficult personal story of healing and hope during the Covid19 pandemic. Motivated by her friend, teacher and longtime collaborator Majero Bouman, Carly’s dancing builds on learnings from a mindful movement practice called Open Floor that Majero facilitates online and in person.
by Carly Stasko / Marc Donato / Mike Doni / Majero Bowman
Shapechanger
Some Celtic myths linked to the Apple Tree refer to the apple as being an ally and magical aid for safe passage for those going through transitions. In old stories, characters often carried branches that bore apples, blossoms, and leaves at the same time and were adorned with silver bells, as symbols of their passage through the otherworld. The apple was thought of as being a support for a person’s ability to face death (physically or via psychological disintegration) and gain entry to the otherworld or altered states of consciousness before returning as a fuller being with new insight. The pentagram, or 5-pointed star can be seen when the apple is halved widthways and is a testimony to the apples’ profound magical nature. * This film captures the essence of the lore surrounding the apple tree. Candice’s movements tell a story of transition and shape-changing, which can sometimes feel painful, awkward, and disjointed. What supports us in the process? How does our perception shift regarding our own reality? How does it feel to get to the “other side”? * From “Celtic Tree Magic” by Danu Forest.
by Candice Irwin / Polly Kultur / Mariana Lafrance
REANIMISM
REANIMISM
Once upon a time, a spirit appeared in somewhere in the woods. She (or he or it ) enjoyed solitary live but she heard some calling and wanted wonder humans world (new culture) to interact with others. She danced, run, explore, learnt in the world and, got another calling. Yes, it’s time to go with lots of memories.
by Emi Nault / THE 555 / Darlene Raven / Emerson Bardales
Arriving
This film is about immigration, and involves a culturally diverse group of individuals. Two members from as far away as Chile and Venezuela, and a third member whose parents come from Italy and Guyana. While multiple countries may seem like multiple differences between the members of this group, it is those differences that create similarities. The commonality of being joined together in this place is what ties them together. In Canada, in Northern Ontario, in the mining town of Sudbury, doing this project. Therefore, it was a unanimous decision, that this project be the story of how this group got to this point from vastly different walks of life, and what their daily existence in Northern Ontario looks like to them.
by Zoi Monroy and Latin Flavour / Claudio Peralta / Samantha Buttery
Sober
A man resists the desire to drink the proverbial Kool-Aid, in an attempt to remain sober.
by Sky Slywchuk / Pierre Laframboise / Eric Miron / Ty Reinhardt
