Dark Swan
In the 15-minute dance film Dark Swan, Zimbabwean dancer Nora Chipaumire and filmmaker Laurie Coyle collaborate on a lyrical and provocative reinterpretation of the 20th century’s most famous ballet solo, Anna Pavlova’s The Dying Swan. Chipaumire’s contemporary re-staging of The Dying Swan is a meditation on women’s struggle to be free, a dance in which strength wrestles with fragility. The outcome is not inevitably death, but the possibility of getting on one’s feet and walking away. In bringing Chipaumire’s solo to the screen, Coyle situates Dark Swan within the post-colonial discourse about emancipation that has been fertile ground for much of Chipaumire’s work. Dark Swan is conceived, choreographed and performed by Bessie Award winning artist Nora Chipaumire and set to composer Camille Saint-Saëns’ Le Cygne. Filmed by Vicente Franco with sound design by Alex Potts.
In Post-Production
Sample scenes from a work in progress. Photo © Najib Joe Hakim/Jaffa Orange Photo
Nora Chipaumire’s reviews
The Anguish of War, Expressed in Movement
The New York Times
Nora Chipaumire Storms the Barricades
The Village Voice
Dark Swan made possible in part with support from:
