Interview with Restless
Director Alexa Velez
Choreographer Alexa Velez
Dancer Alexa Velez
Composer Alexa Velez
Experimental dance film exploring themes of restlessness.
Describe, in as many or as few words as you see fit, the genesis of or inspiration behind your film.
With this film, I wanted to convey the feeling of restlessness through dance. I was inspired by my own feelings of restlessness, and I found myself creating phrases of movement based on simple gestures. Restlessness is energy that feels endless but confined. The opening scene of the film begins with a moving figure, a dancer circling under a streetlight at night. The movement doesn’t stop until the very last frame, when the dancer eventually finds stillness.
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 has the power to transform any space into a stage. For “Restless,” I was inspired by the setting. I was captivated by a lone streetlight illuminating a winding strip of road at a local park. There was something mysteriously isolating about this particular spot, which fit the mood for my film perfectly. As a filmmaker, I prefer to transform an ordinary location into a “stage” for dance and utilize what is available in that space to create a far more relatable and immersive experience for the viewer.
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