Private Project

Wild Ice (day)

There are few ice skating circus aerialists in the world. One among them, Emmanuelle Balmori, merges figure skating with cerceau in a way that is totally unique, even hanging from her skate blade. On the frozen marshes of her hometown of La Prairie, Quebec, Emmanuelle practices her craft to the music of Claude Lamothe and connects with a forest whose ailing trees have fallen - perhaps one of the last true winters of our generation.

A reflection on the passage of time in a suspended snowy forest, Wild Ice (I) offers a glimpse into a rare art form through a practitioner whose decades of experience glow on film.

  • Kayla Jeanson
    Director
  • Kayla Jeanson
    Producer
  • Emmanuelle Balmori
    Producer
  • Abadi Al-Obaidi
    Producer
  • Emmanuelle Balmori
    Key Cast
  • Claude Lamothe
    Music
  • Emmanuelle Balmori
    Choreography
  • Project Type:
    Other
  • Genres:
    Screendance, dance film
  • Runtime:
    5 minutes 31 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    October 31, 2023
  • Production Budget:
    6,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    Canada
  • Country of Filming:
    Canada
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Kayla Jeanson

Born in Winnipeg, Kayla Jeanson choreographs interdisciplinary work rooted in a desire to navigate the line between artist and audience, aiming to reveal physical movement as thought process. She works within the worlds of documentary cinema, contemporary dance, and circus arts, drawn to those who question and challenge boundaries. She has collaborated with artists such as Luca “Lazylegz” Patuelli, Nicolas Montes de Oca, Silvia Gertrudix Gonzalez, Danielle Sturk, Stephanie Ballard, Peter Quanz, Ess Hödlmoser, Cristina Planas, Mia van Leeuwen, and Ming Hon, and she has worked as video documentalist for companies such as Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, Winnipeg’s Contemporary Dancers, Trip the Light Fantastic, and Cirque du Soleil.

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Director Statement

Wild Ice (day) is the first instalment in a series of films that reveal the art of circus on ice. Wild Ice (night) was finished in March 2024, and it dives into the imagination of freestyle ice skater and aerial straps artist Abadi Al-Obaidi. Please let me know if you would like to know more about Wild Ice (night), as it would be amazing to program the two films together.