Body of Your Dreams

Interview with Quinn Wharton

Director Quinn Wharton
Director of Photography Chris Rejano
Choreographer Myles Thatcher
Company The Joffrey Ballet
Composer Jacob TV
Country USA

Rolex Mentor and Protoge grant recipient

Body of Your dreams is a short film choreographed by Myles Thatcher and Directed by Quinn Wharton. It looks at the pressures of modern body image and fitness in the pop coated visuals of a squash court. The dancers of the Joffrey Ballet fly through the space and encounter cracks in the beautiful world when face to face with the box they live in.

Official selection of the San Francisco Dance Film festival, Santa Cruz Film Festival, and San Souci Film Festival. The dance piece was originally choreographed on the San Francisco Ballet before being adapted to film by The Joffrey Ballet.

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Describe, in as many or as few words as you see fit, the genesis of or inspiration behind your film.
Body Of Your Dreams may seem like a light take on today’s obsession with fitness, but beneath the surface of the ballet is a cautionary message that is relevant to all of us living in today’s society. Jacob Ter Veldhuis’s score, which is interlaced with sound bytes from too-good-to-be-true fitness ads and infomercials, promises that the next fitness phenomenon is “so easy!” In today’s consumer society, we can lose sight of the fact that most of the media surrounding us is trying to sell us something. The film adaption of this piece takes that message and heightens it with a specific focus and styling. Placing it an all too appropriate candy colored setting and relishing in the workout oriented environment drives the message home even more clearly.
What is interesting or intriguing to you about engaging with dance for film vs. dance for stage? Or, if you are coming from a film background and working with dance is a secondary medium for you, what drew you to wanting to capture and work with dance?
Dance for film allows you to show dance in a variety of different environments that the stage doesn’t allow and it also lets you tell a more focused story. With dance on stage you design the entire piece to inform the audience. With it translated to film you get to choose exactly where the audience is looking and when to highlight specific messages you are trying to get across. Its a much more focused and thoughtful way to approach the specificity of dance. It also allows you to translate more subtle movement in an impactful way. Small movement can get lost on a big stage but certainly not on the big screen.
Find Body Of Your Dreams On Social Media: @qwharton