Screen Dance: Wang Ramirez in “Amor & Psyche”

The duet Wang Ramirez features the amazing dance talent of Honji Wang and Sebastien Ramirez. The two have been cleaning up at international Break Dance conventions and more uptown establishments like the Bessies, where this past year they won the Bessie Award for Outstanding Performance.

Honji Wang in flight
Honji Wang in flight

This week’s ScreenDance short is an indie film entitled “Amor & Psyche”. To my eye it’s the perfect example of a successful marriage visually and conceptually between dance and cinema, in which neither would be quite complete without the other. The lovely Honji Wang, who has also been ballet trained, resolves nearly every street dance movement with a subtle, lyrical undulation. Sebastien Ramirez is so buoyant he seems to defy gravity and bounce off the ground. Together their work combines thrilling and beautiful movement with phenomenal duet work, and extraordinarily intelligent and sensitive choreography that exists just outside of traditional genre labels. Set in a pavilion like site, the camera work and editing support the choreography to great effect and give it a mythical feel. Wang Ramirez choreographed and directed together with producer and director Ulrik Bruchholz and this short seems to give a subtle nod to two wildly different references, “Crouching Tiger & Hidden Dragon” and La La La Human Steps’ much older short, “Human Sex” . Enjoy!

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Top image: Honji Wang and Sebastien Ramirez make magic

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