This girl is Fine(?)
Rachel Levitt interviews Sabina Schaffer on her first ever dance film, Fine(?), which premieres at Dance : Corps’ Our Stories – Flash Show (Oct 3 and 4).
Before starting this project, Sabina told me that she has all these big ideas but doesn’t know how much she can realistically do. Anyone who watches the final product will agree that this fresh talent is clearly destined for success given the detail and rich dynamics she’s brought to the table on her first ever dance film, Fine(?).
Inspired by Tik-Tok transitions, quarantine anxiety and a “pillow” task, we got all the deets from the girl-to-watch-out-for herself!
What is this piece about?
My piece was inspired by quarantine a little bit. What you experience when you’ve been inside for so long, and the anxiety that comes with being holed up inside for a very long time and how that can be a little distressing and make life feel overwhelming.
How did Tik-Tok inspire this?
In quarantine, I’ve been watching an excessive amount of Tik-Tok, I spend way too much time on it but one thing that I really liked and was inspired a lot by was the transitions that you see on Tik-Tok.
Check out this clip for more info!
What inspired this piece at the Movement Migration choreography class?
In the Movement Migration choreography class, Danny [Tokay Reid] had us go away and take 15 minutes to make something up.
I ended up doing an interesting task where I was standing on three pillows and it had three different vibes. I stuck with that, and had three distinct sections in this piece that I made, it was just broken up differently.
In the pillow piece, what was the vibe of each one? And was there overlap in the final?
Watch the clip to find out!
How do you feel about your finished product?
I’m actually really excited about how it turned out. There were so many moments while I was filming where I would say to my mom “I don’t know if I got this shot, I don’t know if it’s gonna come out right, I guess we’re just gonna wing it.” I was very unsure.
And then once I started editing, I was like “oh! This is actually looking pretty good, okay I can work with this”, and then in the end when I showed it to them [her mom and cousin turned videographers for this film] they were like “that was super sick, it looks really good, I feel like we pulled it off”.
Are you planning to make more dance films?
I think I would definitely continue with more projects, it was super fun to do, a little stressful but in the end it was very worth it.
BONUS FEATURES!
Favourite online dance class?
I always like a good online ballet class.
Favourite dance accessory?
My stick that I use to roll out my muscles and, this is the ballerina always in me, a pair of trash bag shorts.
Favourite dance movie?
I’m obsessed with Step Up movies and always wanted to dance like that and be that cool street dancer. The original is one of my favourites.
