The Dance and Film Course Offered by the BYU Department of Dance Enhances Students’ Education and Prepares Then for an Increasingly Digital Dance Industry
The combination of advanced technology and reduced opportunities to perform live due to the COVID-19 pandemic has given screendance, or dance created for film, the opportunity to thrive. Although live performances are back in full swing around the world, screendance continues to grow in popularity. In the BYU Department of Dance, Dance and Film is an elective course for students majoring in dance. The class plays a vital role in shaping them into marketable artists for an ever-changing industry.
Karen Jensen, who teaches the Dance and Film course, hopes that students recognize that dance choreography extends beyond its traditional boundaries and is deeply connected to other art forms. “My goal is for them to explore new ways to apply their dance skills, realizing that dance can be performed in diverse settings beyond the conventional stage,” she said. “Ultimately, I want them to finish the course equipped with new, marketable skills that can enhance their artistic endeavors and future career opportunities.”
For Baylee Van Patten, a recent graduate from the BYU Department of Dance, film is a medium that makes dance more accessible to a wider and more diverse audience. During her undergraduate studies, Van Patten took the Dance and Film class and participated in a dance film created by faculty member Liz Dibble. Her experience both in front and behind the camera taught her the importance of collaboration between people, art forms and mediums.
Van Patten first began creating her own dance films when she took the Dance and Film course. “The most important thing I learned from the Dance and Film class is how to be confident on both sides of the camera,” she said. “Before the class, I had experience being a dancer, but the class taught me how the camera can respond to and interact with dance. Now that I know how to operate a camera and understand the planning that goes into a film, I can work with a videographer more effectively.”
Van Patten had the chance to put what she learned into practice when, during her senior year at BYU, she received a grant to collaborate with a professional videographer to create a dance film. Her film will be submitted to festivals next year. “During the process of my first film, I was surprised by how much preparation goes into a successful dance film. I learned a lot about working in a professional environment with dance and film,” she said.
Van Patten quickly learned that although the process of creating dance may be different for a camera versus for a stage, both mediums require specific choreography. “Choreography meant for a stage may look two-dimensional on a camera,” she said, “so I believe it is impactful to use many camera angles that an audience may not be familiar with seeing.”
Van Patten believes that screendance doesn’t always have to be done on a large scale. “I realized that I can make dance films on my own, even with limited resources and they are artifacts that I value.”
Dance in any medium has a way of bringing people together, and screendance projects are no exception. “I learned that ideas can develop more fully when multiple people share their perspectives,” said Van Patten. “Dance is naturally an ephemeral experience, but film allows the experience to be reproduced over and over again. In many ways, I believe film makes dance more accessible to different audiences because it gives more people access to dance that they may not have been able to see live.”