Little Forest Space

Filmed in Charlottesville, Virginia, "Little Forest Space" is a three-minute dance and installation choreographed by Somé Louis, and danced by her and her sister Thea Louis. In their own words: “This installation and dance work explores space and movement in nature.
Utilizing natural materials—paper, twine, and local plants—to define the space slightly from the natural environment, Little Forest Space creates a private theater to move amidst and celebrate nature in. Pinned on long pieces of twine, the paper and plants attempt to reflect the natural motion of the air, leaves, and water of the Rivanna trail. The dancers move along with them, celebrating space, nature, and the transition of seasons from Summer to Fall.”

Filmmaker Alexandria Searls has been working on a feature-length experimental film about the Rivanna River, and seeing Somé and Thea dance near the river inspired her to ask them for a collaboration. She appreciated the beauty of their dancing as they moved with the elements of nature. The paper of their installation reminded her of the surface of the river and the way it reflects back what is written on it by reflection. She decided to make a short film celebrating the dance itself visually separate from the river, but connected through wind, sound, and the growth of the trees. The physical presences of the dancers could not be separated from the spiritual, almost ritualistic, portrayal of two sisters changing places and inhabiting the same spaces in their own ways, all the while together. A sense of time, like the ticking of a clock, comes through the music and the precise movements.