One With: Ballet Kelowna on screen (2021)
A dancer stretches into a low lunge, another rolls across the foreground, and a duet brings two people close enough to see their hands meet. These moments from Ballet Kelowna’s One With (2021), photographed by James Alton, show how camera distance changes what a dance audience can see. Watch the official trailer below.
Watch the trailer
One With was Ballet Kelowna’s first dance film, made for digital release while pandemic restrictions prevented live theatre audiences. The work was staged and filmed during a residency at the Vernon and District Performing Arts Centre.
The film explores memory, companionship and support, paying tribute to people living in long-term care. Simone Orlando and dancers McKeely Borger, Desiree Bortolussi, Valentin Chou, Kelsey Hanna and Kurt Werner contributed choreography. Cinematography is by James Alton; editing is by Trygg Nelson.
Floorwork and a lift in the same shot
In the wide frame below, one dancer moves across the floor close to the camera while a pair performs a lift farther back. The foreground body crosses much of the image; the lifted dancer remains visible above it. Both actions can be seen together.
For filming choreography, that is a useful distinction: a wide shot can show relationships between simultaneous movements, as well as the shape of an individual pose. Here, the floor and the space between the dancers are part of the composition.
Close enough to see the contact
The duet frame brings the dancers’ upper bodies and hands forward. One leans towards the other, with their arms meeting near the centre of the picture. The closer view makes that contact more prominent, while showing less of the floor and the full-body positions.
Compare the two frames while watching the trailer: the wide view describes the dancers’ positions across the stage; the closer view draws attention to their exchange. Each distance gives the audience different information.
The One With project gallery includes further examples of group formations, solos and stage light. For the original release context, Castanet’s February 2021 report describes the production and its February 13–14 online premiere.
