GROUND FINE
The film crew: front row: Emma Young, Clare Cook, Kelli Jones; back row: Sharon Leahy, Rick Good, Megan Hague, Erick Stoll
Filming took place in April, 2017, in the 1950s style kitchen of Camelia House where three dancers expressed in movement their rocky relationship with food.
A peak into the process of making GROUND FINE can be had at Sharon’s Vimeo page.
Kelli Jones in still shot from film
Dancer Emma Young, daughter of Sharon and Rick, is no stranger to Rhythm in Shoes fans, nor is Kelli Jones, a graduate of the University of Louisiana Dance Department who also danced with RIS. Clair Cook, whose own company, Clare Cook Dance Theater was a key player in the presentation of the film’s premiere (see below), rounds out the dancing trio.
Clare, Emma and Kelli
The sountrack is a song that Rick wrote for the film with ’50s swamp pop favorites, Cookie and His Cupcakes in mind. Titled, Why Must I Love What Hurts Me So, it features Rick and Sharon on duet vocals with Joel Savoy on electric guitar, Nick Stephan on sax and keyboard, Cal Stevenson on bass, and Danny DeVillier on drums.
The Boys in the Band: Rick, Danny, Cal, Joel, Nick
Ground Fine was part of a project called STIR that culminated in performances at the Acadiana Center for the Arts, August 3 – 5, 2017.
Presented by Runaway Dish & Clare Cook Dance Theater, the project paired choreographers with chefs — a natural for Louisiana.
Each piece of choreography was accompanied before, after or during its performance by food prepared by the collaborating chef. Sharon was paired with chef, Katie Platt of Feel Good Foods.
Ground Fine was be the only film shown at the otherwise live performances.
Still shot from film
Ground Fine was also accepted for screening at several screendance festivals throughout America and abroad.
The Experimental Film and Music Video Festival runs every three months at the Carlton Cinemas in downtown Toronto and at the LA LIVE Regal Cinemas in downtown Los Angeles.
The stated goal of this festival is to showcase the best new experimental short films from around the world that don’t get a fair shake from other film festivals because programmers don’t know how to “categorize” them.
Ground Fine received the award for Best Performances at its screening in Toronto this September.
As part of the 2018 Movies By Movers Film Festival, Ground Fine had a screening at the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University in Durham in June. This Festival also takes place in the fall at Appalachian State University in Boone.
The DanceBARN ScreenDANCE Festival took place during the DanceBARN Festival in Battle Lake, Minnesota in July. Official selections for the ScreenDANCE Festival were presented during a free outdoor screening at the ArtSTREAM Alley in Battle Lake.
Here’s what they had to say about Ground Fine:
Ground Fine is an exquisite work of screendance that takes advantage of the full breadth of the screen medium. I was thrilled to be taken into a truly believable dance universe with trios and duets and solos that wrestle with food, femininity, and domesticity. Of course, I enjoyed the original score and the high production values but I especially enjoyed the careful way in which the score, the body choreography, and the camera choreography all worked together to create a totally seamless and pleasing pace.
Returning to Ontario, Ground Fine was also accepted by the RSVP Experimental Film Festival as part of their “Best of Female Film Festival” lineup. Considered by them to be “one of the best short films from the last year,” the screening took place Thursday evening, September 20, 2018, at the Carlton Cinemas in downtown Toronto.
On October 4th at 7:00pm, The Outlet Dance Project included Ground Fine in its presentation of dance films from around the globe at the Grounds For Sculpture, 80 Sculptors Way in Hamilton, New Jersey. This festival features films that have been produced and created by women filmmakers and choreographers.
Regarding Ground Fine, Outlet Dance Directors, donia salem and Ann Robideaux write:
In a world of dance films reflecting the sadness of the state of the world, it is refreshing (and necessary) to watch an upbeat and fun film with real substance. The design draws you in and the variety of dance style shown make this a stand out film.
Tipperary Dance Platform stages its international dance festival in the dramatic landscape of the Aherlow mountains at the heart of Ireland.
This annual festival invites audiences to a full week of dance, showcasing the latest works of choreographers and film makers.
The 2018 festival ran October 8 – 14, and included live performances, screendance projections, master class programs, symposiums, training for dancers and choreographers, classes for the community, exhibitions, and installations. Ground Fine closed out the evening screenings on October 13th.
The Portland Dance Film Festival in Oregon ran for two weekends in October: Friday and Saturday the 13th and 14th and Saturday and Sunday, the 20th and 21st.
This year’s selection of dance films were shown at the Clinton Street Theater.
Rounding out the year for Ground Fine, the 2018 San Francisco Dance Film Festival presented the film at the Brava Theater Center in the Mission District October 11 – 14.
Ground Fine dancers Emma Young, Kelli Jones and Clare Cook
The last screening of Ground Fine took place at the Wexner Center for the Arts on the Ohio State University main campus, in Columbus on February 13th, as part of the annual Dance@30FPS.
Watch GROUND FINE on Vimeo