The NFB is committed to respecting your privacy

We use cookies to ensure that our site works efficiently, as well as for advertising purposes.

If you do not wish to have your information used in this way, you can modify your browser settings before continuing your visit.

Learn more
Skip to content
My List
Your request could not be processed.
This film is already in your list

Dance Films

Dance takes centre stage in this selection of films featuring the performances and testimonies of dancers, choreographers and teachers of all ages and backgrounds

  • A Delicate Balance
    A Delicate Balance
    Christine Chevarie-Lessard 2018 1 h 15 min
    Filmed from the point of view of its young subjects, A Delicate Balance takes an introspective look at the lives of four dancers on the cusp of adolescence—that critical time in one’s life when childhood fantasies begin to collide with the realities of being an adult. A tender and captivating documentary in which students of the École supérieure de ballet du Québec candidly tell their stories and share their hopes and dreams.
  • Tour en l'air
    Tour en l'air
    Grant Munro 1973 49 min
    For all who enjoy ballet, this English-language film presents an insight into the dance that only dancers ordinarily see. It is an engaging film portrait of the famous Canadian husband-and-wife team, Anna Marie and David Holmes (also seen in the McLaren film, Ballet Adagio). We see their busy lives as international dance stars, their private interests and, above all, their dedication to the absolute refinement of ballet movement.
  • Crystal Pite: Wordless Language
    Crystal Pite: Wordless Language
    Joella Cabalu 2022 4 min
    Through a duet of poetry and self-reflection, choreographer Crystal Pite finds language to describe the wordless artform of dance. Glimpses into a rehearsal for her acclaimed work Revisor combined with images of natural and industrial forms, mirror the states of tension and connection within the human body.
  • Saturday Night
    Saturday Night
    Rosana Matecki 2021 15 min
    A short documentary essay on solitude, filmed in Spanish and narrated by filmmaker Rosana Matecki, Saturday Night offers a poetic and bittersweet snapshot of aging in an urban setting, viewed through the lens of dance. An immersive soundscape and a delicate tempo set the mood for this intimate exploration of resilience and nostalgia.
  • Zab Maboungou
    Zab Maboungou
    Carmine Pierre-Dufour 2021 4 min
    This portrait of choreographer Zab Maboungou provides insight into the meticulous training and physical strength behind one of her pivotal works: Mozongi.
  • Mavis Staines: Sharing Dance
    Mavis Staines: Sharing Dance
    Leah Nelson 2019 4 min
    When Mavis Staines took the helm of Canada’s National Ballet School in 1989, the pedagogy of ballet was due for an evolution. Driven by a belief system that honoured tradition but challenged outdated practices, Staines set in motion a paradigm shift that has transformed ballet training in Canada and around the world.
  • Florence
    Florence
    Thibaut Duverneix  &  Mathieu Léger 2018 5 min
    This collaborative project brings together some of the biggest names in the Quebec contemporary dance scene: Simon Ampleman, Daina Ashbee, Marie Claire Forté, Margie Gillis, Benoît Lachambre and Andrew Tay. Inspired by honoree Florence Junca Adenot’s energy, the dancers capture her infectious vitality and fascinating, impassioned life through powerful and poetic improvised performances.

    Produced by the National Film Board of Canada in co-operation with the National Arts Centre and the Governor General's Performing Arts Awards Foundation on the occasion of the 2018 Governor General's Performing Arts Awards.
  • Red Path
    Red Path
    Thérèse Ottawa 2015 15 min
    This short documentary tells the story of Tony Chachai, a young Indigenous man in search of his identity. Moved by the desire to reconnect with his Atikamekw roots, he delivers a touching testimony on the journey that brought him closer to his family and community. On the verge of becoming a father himself, he becomes increasingly aware of the richness of his heritage and celebrates it by dancing in a powwow.

    This film was produced as part of Tremplin NIKANIK, a competition for francophone First Nations filmmakers in Quebec.
  • Anik Bissonnette: The Gift of Dance
    Anik Bissonnette: The Gift of Dance
    Philippe Baylaucq 2014 8 min
    This short film pays tribute to ballet dancer Anik Bissonnette as she takes the reins of the École supérieure de ballet du Québec. Having dazzled audiences for decades with her astounding talent, she now teaches the rigorous fundamentals and secrets of movement that underlie her art. Bissonnette's grace is reflected through the mirror of time. As we watch the steps and movements of the young dancers she has inspired, we realize that we are witnessing the most beautiful of dances—the transmission of knowledge.

    This film was produced by the NFB in co-operation with the National Arts Centre and the Governor General's Performing Arts Awards Foundation on the occasion of the 2014 Governor General's Performing Arts Awards.
  • ORA
    ORA
    Philippe Baylaucq 2011 15 min
    ORA is a stunning meeting between the artistic worlds of choreographer José Navas and filmmaker Philippe Baylaucq. It is the first film to use 3D thermal imaging, producing visuals like none that have ever been seen before: the luminous variations of body heat seen on skin, bodies emitting a multitude of colours, a space filled with movement that transforms itself.

    Warning: Although this film was shot in 3D, the streaming and downloadable versions are available in 2D only.
  • Lost Action: Trace
    Lost Action: Trace
    Marlene Millar Crystal Pite , … 2011 3 min
    This short film addresses the revolving cycles of human conflict through contemporary dance. Celebrated choreographer Crystal Pite and dance filmmakers Marlene Millar & Philip Szporer commemorate the fading legacies of WWI, while also creating a moving homage to Pite’s mentors and contemporaries, whose lives and short careers are pitted against the fleeting nature of the dance art form. Featuring Theodore Ushev’s haunting and distinct artwork, the film explores the themes of conflict, loss, and rescue we all experience as we cycle through states of love and war.

    Warning: Although this film was shot in 3D, the streaming and downloadable versions are available in 2D only.
  • Dancers of the Grass
    Dancers of the Grass
    Melanie Jackson 2009 2 min
    This short film presents a stunning display of a stop-motion animation as it vividly depicts the majesty of the hoop dance, a tradition symbolizing the unity of all nations.
  • Masko Nimiwin (The Bear's Dance)
    Masko Nimiwin (The Bear's Dance)
    Marie-Christine Petiquay 2009 6 min
    The spectacular annual powwow at Manawan. Gilles Moar once saw a bear dancing, and this inspired him to pass his culture on to his daughter and the young in his community.

    Since 2004, the travelling studios of Wapikoni Mobile have enabled Quebec First Nations youth to express themselves through videos and music. This short film was made with the guidance of these travelling studios and is part of the 2008 Selection - Wapikoni Mobile DVD.
  • Inhabiting Dance
    Inhabiting Dance
    Julien Cadieux 2009 25 min
    This short documentary is a portrait of Sylvie Mazerolle, a young woman for whom dance is as vital and fundamental as breathing. Tracking her process, the film also takes a look at dance in her home province of New Brunswick. In French with English subtitles.
  • Brian Macdonald, Virtuoso Eclectic
    Brian Macdonald, Virtuoso Eclectic
    Tim Southam 2008 5 min
    Framed against archival stills from Brian Macdonald's considerable career, this short film is a testimony to the eclecticism and brilliance of Macdonald's creative vision. As a dancer, director, choreographer and teacher, Macdonald has worked with The Royal Winnipeg Ballet, Les Grands Ballets Canadiens and The National Ballet of Canada, helping to shape the careers of many of the country's most celebrated dancers.
  • My Macondo
    My Macondo
    Dan Weldon 1990 1 h 1 min
    Inspired by the people and landscape of Colombia's Banana Zone, Nobel Prize-winning author Gabriel Garcia Marquez created the Buendia family and the village of Macondo, placing them at the centre of his acclaimed novel, One Hundred Years of Solitude. Among the events described in Marquez' novel is the 1928 Banana Strike and the subsequent murder of 3 000 banana workers by the Colombian Army. My Macondo sets out in search of Marquez' legendary village and the truth behind that incident. Is the fictional village of Macondo a real place with a real history? Did the slaughter of the strikers actually take place? In trying to answer these questions, My Macondo explores the nature of history and myth, and poses questions about fiction and truth.
  • Narcissus
    Narcissus
    Norman McLaren 1983 21 min
    In this short film by Norman McLaren, dancers enact the Greek tragedy of Narcissus, the beautiful youth whose excessive self-love condemned him to a trapped existence. Skillfully merging film, dance and music, the film is a compendium of the techniques McLaren acquired over a lifetime of experimentation.
  • Flamenco at 5:15
    Flamenco at 5:15
    Cynthia Scott 1983 29 min
    This short film is an impressionistic record of a flamenco dance class given to senior students of the National Ballet School of Canada by two great teachers from Spain, Susana and Antonio Robledo. The film shows the beautiful young North American dancers—inspired by the flamenco rhythms and mesmerized by Susana's extraordinary energy—joyously merging with an ancient gypsy culture.
  • Log Driver's Waltz
    Log Driver's Waltz
    John Weldon 1979 3 min
    Easily one of the most often-requested films in the NFB collection, this lighthearted animated short is based on the song “The Log Driver’s Waltz” by Wade Hemsworth. Kate and Anna McGarrigle sing along to the tale of a young girl who loves to dance and chooses to marry a log driver over his more well-to-do competitors.
  • Dance
    Dance
    Lise-Hélène Larin 1979 2 min
    In this short film from the Canada Vignettes series, a map of Canada morphs into human forms that share the country's natural resources to the rhythm of a dance.
  • Ballet Adagio
    Ballet Adagio
    Norman McLaren 1972 9 min
    This short film by Norman McLaren is a slow-motion study of the pas de deux adagio, one of the most exacting dances of classical ballet. A ballet originally choreographed by the Russian ballet master Asaf Messerer is performed for this film by the internationally known Canadian pair David and Anna Marie Holmes, to the music of Albinoni's Adagio.
  • Pas de deux
    Pas de deux
    Norman McLaren 1968 13 min
    This short film by Norman McLaren is a cinematic study of the choreography of ballet. A bare, black set with the back-lit figures of dancers Margaret Mercier and Vincent Warren create a dream-like, hypnotic effect. This award-winning film comes complete with the visual effects one expects from this master filmmaker.
  • Canadians Can Dance
    Canadians Can Dance
    John Howe 1966 22 min
    From a festival of folk dances at the 1966 Canadian National Exhibition, an exciting selection of Canada's best amateur groups. The dances range from the seductive Hawaiian to the familiar Cossack. From all the major language groups of Canada, here is evidence that traditional cultures are expressed and maintained through the art of the dance. A film without words.
  • Polish Dance
    Polish Dance
    Laura Boulton 1944 10 min
    This short documentary profiles the traditional music and pageantry of Polish-Canadians in Manitoba. The heritage and national traditions of Poland were brought to Canada by immigrants and sustained across generations. The colourful traditional dress and lively music of Polish-Canadians is captured by ethnomusicologist Laura Boulton, a pioneering woman in the educational documentary film movement whose goal was to “capture, absorb, and bring back the world’s music.”
  • Polychrome Phantasy
    Polychrome Phantasy
    Norman McLaren 1935 2 min
    In this early film Norman McLaren shot crystal formations through a low-power microscope, using polarized light with the lower part of the picture masked off. The film was then rewound and a scene of dancers was filmed.