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DAY IN THE LIFE OF DANCE: Don't Miss the 54th Dance On Camera Festival Running February 6 through the 9th at Symphony Space
By Deirdre Towers/Follow @deirdre.towers on Instagram
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Published on February 4, 2026
Xin Ying in "The Year of the Green Snake"; Photo: Alex Kerr
Dance on Camera Festival at Leonard Nimoy Thalia Theater at Symphony Space
February 6-9, 2026
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What better way to celebrate the 54th Dance on Camera Festival (DOCF) than Five Brahms Waltzes in the Manner of Isadora Duncan, danced by Natalia Osipova, choreographed by Frederick Ashton, and directed by Grigoriy Eduardovich Dobrygin?
We owe the existence of this festival, the longest-running dance film festival in the world, to Isadora Duncan. Susan Braun, the founder of the festival and its non-profit, the Dance Films Association (established 1956), studied the Duncan approach as a child and never lost her love for the freedom and grace of Isadora.
Dobrygin, a classical-trained dancer, keeps us in the dark for the first 28 seconds of this 9-minute short, until we finally see the enchanting Osipova lying on a wooden floor. Cameramen Mikhail Brichman and Horia Cojan (steadycam) move with her like love-smacked birds. While generally dancing close by, they pull back so that we can admire the shadows of her scarf swirling behind her. The synchronicity of the lighting, camera, dance, and costumes is flawless. Let's bow also to the restraint of editing director Dmitry Kubasov and to the genius of his cutaways, between waltzes, to the dust swirling in the light, which trigger us to consider our own internal dance.
DOCF 2026 presents 33 films from 12 countries on February 6-9 in Symphony Space's The Leonard Nimoy Thalia Theater on the Upper West Side. "Tobin Del Cuore's Through Memory and Jennifer Lin's About Face bookend an eclectic slate of selections," said co-curator Michael Trusnovec. "The first reveals how the history of modern dance continues to resonate and shape its future, while the second captures an essential dialogue—one that confronts and seeks to evolve outdated portrayals of Asians in ballet and beyond."
To note a few more of the fascinating films, Keely Song's The Ballad of a Home inspires by pulling us into a familial situation with believable rhythms found in everyday life, and logical phrasing. Sounds underscore behavioral shifts so finely that it feels as though we are hearing something emanating from their gut.
It is on a program of shorts that explore how we "connect to ritual, community, desire, spirit, and gestures that shape our lives." Loom Body is another refreshingly abstract yet potent dance film by Jessica Nupen, made in collaboration with the weaving mill and design studio Mungo in Plettenberg Bay, South Africa. Unlike anything you'll typically see, this poetic film weaves the threads of two dancers (Adele Blank, 84, and Ipeleng Merafe, 36) with the dance of the looms.
Co-curator Shawn Bible comments that "Rendering by Philipe Noguchi and Artur Miranda captivates our senses through imaginative kaleidoscoping vignettes in a void space of unexpected perspectives." In this 13-minute short from Brazil, the selfie emerges as a micro-choreography of our digital self.
Flamenco aficionados will enjoy Roser Corella's documentary about Manuel Linan Rojo Clavel (Red Carnation) and Carmen. This short starts with such promise, with its intriguing opening, strong dancer, music, but then the team missed many opportunities to make it more than just a filmed performance in a cool location.
The LGBTQ audience will love the line dancing in Graham Clayton-Chance's documentary Last Dance at the Sundance Stampede. The lovers of classics will drool over Vincent Minnelli's An American in Paris, the feature made in 1951 starring Gene Kelly and Leslie Caron.
Buck up your rebel spirit and support this grand dame of dance film festivals (it spawned similar festivals in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Ohio, Amsterdam, and about 120 other places). To see the full schedule and purchase tickets, visit https://www.dancefilms.org/festival.
