Tumult

I was invited to make Tumult by my long-time colleague in the arts, Angelica Vessella.
Early in my transition from stage choreography to dance-filmmaking, Angelica understood that it would be a great experience for college
students to experience dance film from the inside. So she commissioned me to make work for her students, beginning in 2011 with Year, Make & Model and continuing through 4 more projects, with a new one one scheduled for January 2024. Despite the fact that we only have 5 days to audition dancers, create the work and shoot it, the students at Rhode Island College are always a pleasure to work with - committed, comfortable in front of the camera, able to contribute their own personalities and movement material. The theme costumes - and then the theme - developed out of the location,
which was a private Catholic school in Providence Rhode Island, where a former RIC
student was teaching dance. As for the cinematographer, this was my 3rd time working with Jennifer Keller, a screendance teacher at Slippery Rock University, where I had also made work with students in the past, beginning with Plow Plant Reap.