The Fits + Silent Gestures

The Fits

Charcoal black, braided hair, sinewy body, defined muscles, strong will. Eleven-year-old Toni from Cincinatti goes to the boxing gym with her big brother, but casts curious glances at the confident and vain teenage girls in the dance group The Lionesses. Shortly after Toni is admitted to the group, several of the girls are hit by mysterious seizures with unexplained convulsions and fainting. Is it due to stress? Nerves? Is there anything in the drinking water? And is it contagious? While Toni tries to get to grips with the dance, she looks at the growing epidemic around her with skepticism and fascination.

With sparse dialogue, but an expressive soundscape and a well-composed visual gaze, The Fits introduces us to Toni’s world. The film is full of energy, physical movement and girl power, at the same time as there is something lingering and enigmatic about the portrayal of the disease among the young girls. A first-class depiction of growing up.

Silent Gestures

There is a language of movement and gesture that is capable of communicating the emotional state of a person in a profound and deeply moving way. The choreography explores an ability to create an authentic way of moving.

Movement on the big screen

This program’s starting-off point is movement on the big screen – combined with a desire to look at choreography from a different angle. The program comprises a variety of genres and time periods, ranging from the more obscure to the more commercial. It will probably surprise you – and hopefully start a discussion about what choreography really is.

Even though choreography is regularly used in fight scenes in movies, we rarely think about it as such. And as dance is most often presented on a stage, this is where it is “supposed” to be. We hope with this program to give an insight into and raise awareness about what dance and choreography can be. An exploration of the order and composition of movements, if you like.

All of the films will be introduced by a carefully selected dance short. Hopefully, both dance afficionados and film buffs will find something to enjoy.

The program is a collaboration between program director at Vega Scene, Truls Foss, and CODA Oslo International Dance Festival, as well as DansiT, Trondheim, who supplied the dance shorts.

Initiative by Sofie Amiri