Nostalgia's Window

PerformanceScreendance
Written By Charlotte Griffin

Lucent, Vivid, Flashing

Dancing light and shadow tether a solitary figure to ancestral lineages–known and unknown, sensed and lost, gathered and dispersed. Within the fire of her isolation, matrilineal tendrils unfold. Peering through the window of nostalgia the dancer marks her memory of forgetting.

About

Nostalgia’s Window tethers a solitary figure to ancestral lineages through dancing light and shadow, and exists as an experimental film and live solo performance featuring dancer/collaborator Waeli Wang. This work emerged from home video recordings of dancing sunlight made by director Charlotte Griffin following the birth of her daughter and holds space for mothers, caregivers, and ancestors. These images of moving light evoked the passing of time and inspired a series of movement phrases rooted in matrilineal connections. The undulating choreography was conceived as a nonlinear, winding spiral offering cyclical glimpses of the dancer’s reminisces. Composer Milica Paranosic underpins the kinetic ebb and flow with an electro-acoustic guitar line that interweaves guttural voices, drones, textures, rhythms, and songs.

Photos by Owen Burnham

Live Performance 2023

The live solo performance iteration of Nostalgia's Window integrates movement gesture, multichannel video projection, aerial hammock, and soundscape to explore the connective tissue of light and dark as a vehicle for ancestral communion.

Developed during a residency at the University of California, Irvine, Experimental Media Performance Lab, Nostalgia’s Window is a work-in-progress that can be adapted for a black box, proscenium, or gallery performance space. milkleaf seeks commissioners and presenter partners for the completion and premiere of Nostalgia’s Window in 2023-2024 as part of a full milkleaf program or with a mixed bill.

Screendance 2022

Nostalgia’s Window was initially realized as a 16-minute experimental film, created and produced by director Charlotte Griffin, dancer/collaborator Waeli Wang, cinematographer/collaborator Grant Speich, and composer Milica Paranosic.

This film iteration was officially selected by Central Michigan International Film Festival, the United States Super 8 Film and Digital Video Festival, Samaskara International Film Festival in India, and Dance Camera Pandemania in Istanbul, Turkey. Nostalgia's Window received  a theatrical residency at UCI’s xMPL in March 2022, which focused on exploring the multimedia potential of the work. Nostalgia’s Window has received generous support, funding, and in-kind resources from its creative team, milk​leaf donors, and the University of California, Irvine (UCI).

Research Residencies

March 15-April 1, 2022
UCI Experimental Media Performance Lab (xMPL)

September 12-29, 2022
UCI xMPL

Live Performance History

November 17, 2023
Pentacle Presents: Fall Further XII
Dixon Place, New York City

June 16-17, 2023
Pentacle Presents: Dance in Philadelphia, Performance Garage, Philadelphia, PA

May 15, 2023 (premiere)
IÓN Solo Contest, Teatro Municipal Sá de Miranda Sala Experimental, Portugal

  • Producers
    Charlotte Griffin, Grant Speich, Waeli Wang

    Director / Choreographer / Editor
    Charlotte Griffin

    Cinematographer / Colorist
    Grant Speich

    Dancer / Assistant Editor
    Waeli Wang

    Composer
    Milica Paranosic

  • Genre
    Experimental Screendance

    ​Runtime
    15:30

    Premiere
    Samskara International Film Festival, India (shifted online due to COVID, Feb. 6, 2022)

    Shooting Format
    UHD Digital, Sony A6500

    Aspect Ratio
    16:9

    Film Color
    Color

Charlotte Griffin
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