CHOREOGRAPHY OF ALTRUISM: WHAT AND HOW

My name is Daniel Barkan and I am a choreographer working on a new exciting dance film project.

A while ago I got inspired by the painting 'Dance' of Matisse. I decided to recreate this powerful image, and transform the characters in the drawing into living dancers.

Inspired by the painting, Choreography of Altruism is a dance film which takes us back to the society of the 21st century.

The dancers are holding hands in a circle. We notice that the two individuals' hands are slowly parting; they only slightly brush their hands instead of holding.

Remaining the touch is becoming difficult as society rules are changing.
The rupture is breaking the harmony when the circle falls apart. They are trying to hold onto each other in smaller groups until they are thrown to a new reality.

Landing to a new reality; how will they react? The freedom and fear are crossing each other.

THE CONTEXT: SOCIAL DISTANCE

Social themes are a constant fascination for me as an artist. As we are entering a new social era,
I believe this film is essential more than ever.

Social distancing became a ground to form new structures, therefore, I would like to put a mirror to our current society and reflect upon those changes.

We are no longer together holding hands and we are the one and only reason for it.

Are we going to be able to lift our society above the radical alienation?

Was it excessive use of nature who led us here?

Or over a materialistic approach, which blinded us from the important values ​​of love, touch, and community?

WHEN DANCE MEETS FILM- A 'POINT OF CHANGE'

In 2017 I created a short dance film named 'Point of Change' as part of my bachelor research at the ArtEZ dance academy (Arnhem, NL).

I was inspired by the Neurofeedback practice - a computer brain training program that improves life quality.
The results were impressive and I felt enthusiastic to translate my physical experience into an artistic visual outcome for an audience.

The film won an honorable mention from the competition of Art and Neuroscience (The Netherlands, 2017).

Afterward it reached several film festival across Europe, such as:
-Moving Body Festival in Varna (Bulgaria, 2017)
-Moving Images Festival (Cyprus, 2017)
-Fokus Film Festival (Denmark, 2018)

It was successfully received and touched many people around the world. At that point it was clear to me that the combination of film and dance was the way I wanted to express myself.

Watch the short film here:

MY FIRST COLLABORATION WITH FILMMAKERS

I've always been attracted to the combination of camera and dance, and since my arrival to the Netherlands in 2013, I took part in different dance films production.

One of my first collaboration was the short film "Barkan".

Watch it here:

Directed by Mats Logen + Studio AKATAK (Karlijn Milder) in collaboration with fashion designer Barbara langendijk, it premiered in Cinedans and traveled around Europe in several festivals

After a fruitful collaboration I approached Mats and Karlijn Milder to direct 'Choreography of Altruism' and I am honored for their participation in this exciting new journey.

WHAT WILL THE MONEY BE USED FOR?

I've gathered a great group of artists, they all work days and nights to bring this project to life.
In order to make it happen we need your help, so our five dancers will be able to perform in this film.

CREDITS: WHO IS WHO?

Daniel Barkan: concept & Choreographer.

Mats Logen: Director

Karlijn Milder: Director of photography

Michelle Vossen: Fashion designer

Danique Jongbloed: Production manager.

Enrico Meijer: Composer.

Gijs Hanegraaf: Dancer

Loris Daniel Casalino: Dancer

Davide Andrea Calabrese: Dancer

Gilda Federica Cesario: Dancer

Keren Or Ben Shachar: Dancer.

Maaike Mekking: Promotion picture and video

Vincenzo Turiano: Social media advisor