Soldier Island
Soldier Island is a feature length screendance loosely based on the best-selling murder mystery novel And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie. Recorded inside The Drake House, a historic home in New Jersey, 10 dancers to represent the 10 main characters of the novel. Because we were unable to rehearse together in the same room due to much of the creation period taking place during the height of COVID, each dancer has their own film within the film and lives (with some exceptions) within their own video box (similar to a Zoom layout, but with more formation changes and flexibility). Some of the dancers never even met in person, and this reflects both the new possibilities unlocked by these exceptional times and just how stratified our world has become.
“Soldier Island is shot in a myriad of styles. It starts with a dancer moving in the darkness and then we see someone turn the pages of Agatha Christie’s novel. From there it moves into live action with one woman awakening from her slumber. Before long there are two, then three - all shown in different screens like on a Zoom call. The film increasingly adds more and more screens with people in their own little world. Watching the screens increase is a very interesting experience. It’s probably unlike any film you’ve ever seen as they interpret Agatha Christie’s story in a truly unique way.”
the death of Dr. Armstrong, 2021
