Miriam Smith, dancer with Ballet Theatre of Indiana
When Stirling Matheson, the director of Ballet Theatre of Indiana, approached me about recreating my 2016 work Absolution for film, I was interested, but skeptical. He had a vision of a site-specific piece, filmed at night, with rain effects and fog. I wasn't sure if this meant Stirling would show up with a hose and camcorder, but I was willing to give it a go anyway.
As it turns out, Stirling had enlisted the help of Emmy Award winning filmmaker Bryan Boyd to shoot, co-direct, and edit the project. The addition of a generous grant and loan of an Angenieux camera lens set us on the path to create something really special.
We gathered at The Ruins in Holliday Park on a Wednesday evening in late August, and gave ourselves 5 hours of darkness to film every group shot, close up, and angle needed to capture the story of this piece. Stirling had, in fact, built a working rain machine, and there was a dedicated grip on hand with plenty of fog.
The first time we ran the piece through entirely, it was exhilarating. At least for me. The dancers, who were now at the beginning of a long night of dancing in cold "rain", may have felt differently. Working with Stirling and Bryan to create this film piece by piece was such a fulfilling experience, and one that I hope to have to opportunity to experience again.
Full Company, Ballet Theatre of Indiana
After many hours of retakes, adjustments, quick runs in and out of the water, and plenty of coffee, we called it a wrap and packed up for the night. The next week, the real work of editing together all the shots we acquired began. As I live in London, and Stirling and Bryan are in Indianapolis, trying to collaboratively edit a film presents a few logistical issues. Thankfully technology has made it possible for us to share ideas back and forth, and I've delegated two dancers to be my representatives in the studio.
The other important aspect of this project was, of course, the music. Fortunately for us, my sister (Caleigh Kilijonienė) and her husband (Viktoras Kilijonas) are talented musicians, and together they created an original track that meshed perfectly with the existing choreography. As an artist it's always an honor to work with creators in other genres, so to have the opportunity to do that with my own sister added a level of investment and emotion into this project that would have been difficult to create otherwise.
The final product will be premiered in Indianapolis on November 5th as part of a benefit for Ballet Theatre of Indiana. The film is also being submitted to film festivals around the world, and with any luck it will soon be arriving at a cinema near you.
It is always a pleasure to work with the dancers of BTI, and this project was no different. I hope to have the opportunity repeat and expand my collaboration with the company and to bring even more dance to the big screen through film.
Megan Noonan, dancer with Ballet Theatre of Indiana
Full Company, Ballet Theatre of Indiana