Tracking Shots

The high points of the Dance on Camera Festival are again shaping up to be documentaries, extended looks at artists and communities that let us understand the depth of commitment dancers have to their work, whether they’re amateurs or professionals, and no matter what their age. This first weekend tilts heavily toward the ballet docs of the late Anne Belle, who celebrates Alexandra Danilova, Suzanne Farrell, and other Balanchine ballerinas. This Saturday and next Friday, Andy Abrahams Wilson’s Returning Home—an homage to the octogenarian Anna Halprin as she takes a (mostly nude) journey through earth, air, fire, and water—shares a bill with Lilo Mangelsdorff’s Damen und Herren ab 65, which follows senior citizens who audition for and perform a work by Pina Bausch.

A collection of 10 short Scandinavian dance films, Moving North is sensual without being particularly interesting, as is Moebius Strip, a Swiss entry. Perhaps the best, screening the final weekend, are Leanne Pooley’s Haunting Doug- las, a portrait of HIV-positive New Zealand choreographer Douglas Wright, and Dame la Mano, Dutch filmmaker Heddy Honigmann’s deep exploration of New York’s Cuban community.