Renewal is now available for streaming on Chai Flicks. It is an honor to have my film be a part of this stellar collection of cinema.
Renewal also had its Romanian premiere in Bucharest at the Creart Dance Cinema Screening this past July, and is now part of the Theater and Dance Library Collection at the University of Texas at el Paso.
Creart Dance Cinema Screening, Photo Credit: Dragos Toader
Photo Credit Elad Debi.
Renewal is now being featured in the Library of Theater and Dance at the University of Texas at El Paso. Director of Dance, Melissa Melpignano, Ph.D, shared her thoughts regarding the film:
"With a discreet and curious eye, Stacey Menchel Kussell's Renewal introduces us to the modes of feeling and living art of one of the leading Israeli dance companies, Vertigo, based between Jerusalem and their "eco art village" in the Ellah Valley. Through dance footages of performance and rehearsals, and interviews with the founders, leaders, and dancers of the company, this documentary accompanies dance scholars and students in decentering Israeli dance discourses from Tel Aviv, and is of great interest for all those invested in the 21st-century reinventions and legacies of kibbutz culture at the intersection of environmentalism and community-building."
Madrid, like so many cities worldwide, has been hit terribly by the Covid-19 crisis. In a special effort to honor the city on Madrid Day, The Dance Enthusiast presented the Momentos Madrileños (Moments from Madrid) on May 2nd, 2020 in their social distance video dance series.
See the article here.
Photo Credit: Lewis Landini
Expecting has had an amazing year in 2019 screening at festivals all over the world. Thank you to all who came out to support this mighty short - more to come in 2020!
Spanish premiere! Thank you to the amazing Casa Adret for inviting me to present my films in the historic Jewish quarter of Barcelona. Beautiful space, thoughtful discussions, and delicious vermouth.
Out of 1000 submissions, Ritual was voted top 10 Dance Movie of 2018 by the Experimental, Dance, and Music Festival.
Momentos Madrilenos was shot on location in Madrid, Spain and features Marcat Dance in iconic sites around the city including Plaza Mayor, La Latina, and the Casa de Velázquez. Photo credit: Stacey Menchel Kussell.
Expecting is a reflection on motherhood that features ballerina Michele Wiles during her eighth month of pregnancy. Here are images from our filming in the Kaatsbaan International Dance Center upstate in Tivoli, New York. Photo credit: Stacey Menchel Kussell and Richard Trammel.
Ritual was a multi-faceted project that grew out of a collaboration with spoken word artist Aaron Samuels and sound designer Carlos Metta. Here are some images of the sound recording in Mexico City, and the film shoot with the dancers in New York at New York Live Arts. Photo credit: Mexico City: Aaron Sameuls; New York: Edo Kussell.
Renewal was shot in Israel in Jerusalem and on Kibbutz Netiv Ha Lamed Hei. Here are some images of our filming on location. Photo credit: Edo Kussell.
