Our Five Senses | Movement No. 1
“Our Five Senses | Movement No. 1" is a stirring, sophisticated and visually rich dance film exploring the five senses as intriguing markers of our personalities.
Inspired when tuning into her own senses, choreographer and performer Selene Muñoz created a work with vivid and intense texture. The choreography bends the boundaries between the dramatic flair of flamenco and the stately grace of ballet, and the cast - Muñoz with New York City Ballet dancers Ask La Cour and Amar Ramasar - weave in and out of each other’s limbs with a palpable tension. Muñoz creates a fourth character through her manipulation of her dress, binding the dancers together or flicking it outward in defiant independence. The dancers hold court in the stark and linear architecture of Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park on Roosevelt Island, the New York City skyline looming behind them.
Our five senses take us on minute-to-minute adventures: seeing new things, smelling familiar aromas, tasting something bitter, hearing and feeling moved by music, or holding tightly the ones we love. We cherish or ache for these instants. We close our eyes tightly or seize the moment.
“Our Five Senses” was directed, filmed and edited by Ben Rich and produced by Clara Peterson. It includes an original score by Andrea Cornish. This work is the beginning of a larger production for the stage and sequel movements on film.
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Ben RichDirector
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Clara PetersonProducer
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Selene MuñozKey Cast
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Ask La CourKey CastNew York City Ballet
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Amar RamasarKey CastNew York City Ballet
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Project Type:Experimental, Short, Other
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Runtime:4 minutes 54 seconds
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Completion Date:August 1, 2016
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Production Budget:1,500 USD
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Country of Origin:United States
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Country of Filming:United States
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Shooting Format:1080 and 4K
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Aspect Ratio:1.89:1
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Film Color:Color
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First-time Filmmaker:No
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Student Project:No
Ben Rich is a New York filmmaker with two decades of experience working on productions. He works as a video producer at Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival and The New York Public Library in addition to collaborating with various production companies in New York and beyond.
I am deeply inspired by the tremendous technical prowess and rich emotional expression of all three dancers in this film.
The choreography in "Our Five Senses | Movement No. 1" billows in and out, in and out, and I wanted the camera to mirror this pattern. Dancing with the performers, the camera moves in and out fluidly, contracting and expanding the space to replicate that feeling.
Filming in Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park in NY, I was struck by the strong geometry of our location. I was moved to draw connections between the long lines in the architecture and the lines of the dancers' bodies, as well as the ever-changing spacial relationships among them. There is palpable drama in the dance and the music, and I wanted the way we used our location to emphasize that drama.
It is my hope that anyone who watches this film enjoys an elegant thrill ride of the senses. Starting with an engagement of texture, breath and space, and then diving into a more kinetic experience, activating senses of touch, sound and a sense of velocity.