Body and camera in motion — a dialogue between film and contemporary dance theater based on the experience gained in the making of the experimental art documentary Tensity

Abstract

The paper presents the relationship between the worlds of film and dance theater, and the ways in which the medium of the performing body can be translated onto the screen by the director and cinematographer. By analyzing his own experiences and related artistic decisions made during the realization of the experimental documentary Tensity, the author looks at the clash of two different media and the relations that may result from the effort to translate dance theater performance into traditional film medium. Along with the change of medium, the nature of the work also changes and a completely new artistic value is created, enriched with elements unknown to theater, such as film editing, camera work and, finally, screen time. A film work based on the theatrical medium becomes a separate artistic creation, allowing the director and the cinematographer to build upon the foundation of the performative art of the actor/dancer.