17 days until #DanceWeekend21!

Meet Jennifer Robichaud of Larchaud Dance and Jono Lawley of ELD Films. Together they’ve joined forces to create interdisciplinary work under the umbrella of ELDLDP. ELDLDP has created The Movement Monday Series: a creative collaboration of Jono’s initiative to produce a short dance film a week, and Jennifer’s enthusiasm to work collaboratively and site-specifically to create dance art.

The series will be presented at DanceWeekend21′ on Fri Apr 30. 

 

1. Can you tell us little bit about yourself/your company/collective/school?

Larchaud Dance Project and ELD films have joined forces to create interdisciplinary work under the umbrella of ELDLDP.

2. What will you be sharing at DanceWeekend’21?

      The Movement Monday Series is a creative collaboration of Jono Lawley’s initiative to produce a short dance film a week, and Jennifer Robichaud’s enthusiasm to work collaboratively and site-specifically to create dance art. Each episode is filmed guerrilla style in under 2 hours and produced in one week. Dancers were told the location the day (sometimes hours) before, learning choreography/freestyling in the moment, working off of the inspiration of the shoot. With intuitive artistry and a meticulous eye, Jono Lawley combines the adrenaline and physicality of the movement with impusive choreography to create vivid, nuanced, and arresting motion picture. #movementmondays #shortandsweet

3. What interests about film as a medium and how does if differ from a live performance?

Jono: The intimacy of a close-up.

Jenn: Being able to explore areas normally hidden to the audience.

4. How has the pandemic shifted your work as a professional dance artist?

Jenn: The pandemic has allowed me to dig deep and find alternate ways to communicate with dancers, create collaboratively, and fuel movement. I am extremely hands-on (quite literally) in creation/rehearsal/performance, I’ve found myself very displaced not being able to touch others as a means of initiation.

Jono: In the past, I’ve found it difficult to coordinate schedules with dancersand choreographers. As the world slowed down, dancers tended to be less busy, so they were more available and willing to collaborate – usually on short notice.

5. Please share what you are most looking forward to at Dance Ontario’s first virtual DanceWeekend?

Jono: Being able to view the other films being presented, and see how other artists used their time during the pandemic to create.

Jenn: I’m curious to see how isolation and world events have shaped the work of my colleagues and peers. Not only was there a pandemic, but there were many other occurences that have influenced and shaped both artists and society on many different levels this past -environmentally, politically, systemically, socially, and humanely.

6. Do you have any up-coming performances/workshops/events you would like to share?

Both: Watch out for a new full length film from ELDLDP, and collaboration on Larchaud’s future creation Exit Strategies!

7. In 1 or 2 sentences, what does dance mean to you?

Jenn: It is both home and an escape.

Jono: Dance, filming dance, and editing dance bring me to my happy place. It’s like meditation for me.