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GIEHCM Seminar | Arts of image, sound and movement: Dance in period films and music in the Portuguese and French "new cinemas"
PERMANENT SEMINAR IN HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL STUDIES IN MUSIC
The Permanent Seminar of the research group Historical and Cultural Studies in Music of INET-md intends to be a forum where all its members (integrated and collaborators), as well as other invited researchers from the academic, cultural and artistic circles, may present their work and discuss ongoing projects and research.
18-10-2023 | 6 pm | Colégio Almada Negreiros, NOVA FCSH | Room SA - Floor 0
Free access, in person and online:
Zoom Room
Meeting ID: 973 6908 3784
Pass code: 080312
ARTS OF IMAGE, SOUND AND MOVEMENT: DANCE IN PERIOD FILMS AND MUSIC IN THE PORTUGUESE AND FRENCH "NEW CINEMAS"
Show and/or tell: what is the role of historical dance in period cinema? And with what memory of the history of dance are we left with?
Alexandra Canaveira de Campos | ICNOVA
To the often-studied relationship between dance and cinema, both arts of the image and movement, I’m proposing an original analysis of the relationship between the subgenres of historical dance (in particular the social and theatrical dances of the 17th and 18th centuries) and period cinema. For that, it is not only important to question to what extent is dance illustrative of the story or a narrative instrument in this type of films, but also how does period cinema contribute to the construction of a memory of the history of dance. There are several contexts that justify the introduction of a staged dance on film and they depend on a number of choices on the part of the artistic team. In period cinema these choices are particularly delicate, especially when the "world of the play" is far from a concern with historical rigor. From a selection of films that include, among others, Valmont (1989), by Milos Forman, Jefferson in Paris (1995), by James Ivory, Le Roi danse (1999), by Gérard Corbiau, Marie Antoinette (2006), by Sofia Coppola, and Alan Rickman's A Little Chaos (2014), I will analyze the criteria for the introduction of dance scenes and reflect not only on their aesthetic and metaphorical effect, but also on their power of transmission, as well as of (de)construction, of a stereotype of historical dance.
Alexandra Canaveira de Campos | Master’s degree in history, with a dissertation on dance treatises in Portugal in the 18th Century («Tratados de dança em Portugal no século XVIII. O lugar da dança na sociedade da época moderna», NOVA FCSH, 2009). In 2016, she enrolled in the PhD programme in Communication Sciences (NOVA FCSH), with the project "The heritage of Baroque dance and its transmission. Examples from Portugal, Spain, and France". She has published and presented papers on these topics. In 2010, she was a contributor to the issue of Dançar para a República, with an article on dance treatises in Portugal in the 19th century. She also works on these themes in artistic and educational projects, including an internship with the Inov-Art programme (DG-Artes) in 2011 at the fêtes galantes dance company in Paris, where she was an artistic collaborator on the DVD La danse baroque proposée par Béatrice Massin (2011). As a dancer, she has been working with the groups La Portingaloise and Canora Turba since 2007. She works in Science Management at CHAM - Centre for the Humanities (NOVA FCSH/UAc).
The musical and sound connections between Monteiro's First Four Films and the French New Wave
José Miguel Nicolau Pinto
João César Monteiro not only always claimed strong individualism but also rejected any aesthetic proximity to Portuguese New Cinema. However, in 1999, Monteiro accepted that he aligned with directors associated with the French New Wave. Seeking to understand the relationship between the filmmaker and a group from which he was geographically and even socially distant, I here propose to analyse the music and sound from the first four films Monteiro directed – Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen (1969), He that waits for a dead man's shoes (1970), Fragments of an Alms-Film (1972), What shall I do with this Sword? (1975). It is important to understand the way the musical and sound components reflect the convergence between these works and the French and Portuguese movements. The definition of the Portuguese New Cinema is still not consensual. Considering how it developed and the admiration that the Portuguese directors associated with it had for the main representatives of the French New Wave, I suggest that there was a strong link between those movements. Through an audio-visual analysis based on the enumeration and description of all the sound and musical elements in interaction with the textual, visual, and narrative elements of these films, I intend to identify convergences and divergences between his films and the Portuguese and French “new cinemas”, considering the cultural and social contexts in which these films were produced and circulated.
José Miguel Nicolau Pinto | Has initiated his musical studies in the Conservatório Bonfim learning piano. When he finished, he started his superior studies in musicology at the Universidade do Minho while still improving his piano skills with professor Marián Pivka. While at the Universidade do Minho, he participated in several projects – for example: "Património Musical do Concelho de Braga", coordinated by Elisa Lessa and the exposition based on the work of Eurico Tomás de Lima, coordinated by Ângelo Martingo. José Pinto holds a Master’s degree from the Faculdade de Ciências Sociais e Humanas – Universidade Nova de Lisboa, with a dissertation entitled "A música e o som na Trilogia de Deus de João César Monteiro". He is currently attending the doctoral program in musicology at the Faculdade de Ciências Sociais e Humanas – Universidade Nova de Lisboa, with a grant from FCT.
