SHORT FILM, 2020
“And to this ‘whole world’ comes digital art to one’s living room in the form of “Shelter” by Alexander Reneff-Olson, Danielle Rowe, Garen Scribner, and Valentina Reneff-Olson…
… As Jared Wright, soloist with Dutch National Ballet, comments direct to camera in “Shelter,” “being in isolation is not my thing, and I don’t think it’s anyone’s thing.” Cassandra Trenary, soloist with American Ballet Theatre, picks up the thread, “this isn’t going to be easy to come back from.” Filmed “at the theatre for the last time for the foreseeable future,” Joseph Walsh, principal dancer with the San Francisco Ballet, performs in the hold-your-breath hush of the War Memorial Opera House as members of the public were requested to shelter-in-place. It is surreal to watch this dance unfold as a different one unfolds on the streets and is in turn reflected in the dance. “Shelter” speaks of this ripple of news and its accompanying, varied emotions and bodily responses, “as cities all over the world began to issue their own shelter-in-place mandates;” the creators of “Shelter” reached out to dancers around the world “to participate in this project, with the intention of capturing artists’ resilience in the face of unprecedented times.” Gracia Haby, Fjord Review
Music: Piano Sonata No. 14 in C♯ minor by Beethoven, performed and arranged by Thomas Lauderdale and Jacob Van of Pink Martini.
Created and Directed by Danielle Rowe, Garen Scribner and Alexander Reneff-Olson
Choreographed by Danielle Rowe and Garen Scribner
A portrait of the dance world under shelter in place that captures artists' resilience in the face of unprecedented times.
Joseph Walsh in Shelter (©Alexander Reneff-Olson)