team roxana

Good filmmakers the world over like to find a group of artists they trust, surround themselves with them and then create with those folks for as long as possible. Think of Martin Scorsese and Thelma Schoonmaker (editor); Wong kar-wai and Chris Doyle (cinematographer); Woody Allen and Letty Aronson (producer). So it is with Moze, who has been working since 1988 on dance films in Canada of his own conception and direction. The choreographers and composers often change over because this is part of his vision - to showcase the country's best dancers and musicians. He continues to mine their riches wherever he finds them. Behind the scenes, however, a steady group of supporters, like flying buttresses of a cathedral, help keep the dance moving and the dancemaker's mind turning.

Choreographer Roberto Campanella was a featured dancer in The Year of the Lion and From Time to Time and is now choreographer on Roxana. He is also the Artistic Director and principal choreographer of ProArteDanza, which enjoyed a successful second season at the Betty Oliphant Theatre in October. Roberto was a principal dancer in Italy with two major dance companies before coming to Toronto in 1993 where he joined the National Ballet. His style is based on ballet technique but the dances themselves have a contemporary feeling. As it turns out, this was perfect for Roxana as Roberto's ideas fluidly engage Moze's vision.

The alumnus of other talent comes strongly pedigreed. Stephen Traynor came into Moze's professional world with From Time to Time, as did Emma Lu Romerein. Featured dancer Greta Hodgkinson, who plays Roxana, worked with Moze in The Rings of Saturn. The longest standing collaborators, however, are cinematographer Michael Spicer and editor Jeff Bessner. Spicer shot Moze's gorgeous lyrical six minute short The Golden City, the hypnotic Rings of Saturn, the passionately charged Year of the Lion and From Time to Time. Editor Jeff Bessner won a Gemini for his work on Year of the Lion. He also edited From Time to Time and will cut Roxana too.

So far the usual chemistry is working its magic. The creative sparks are flying - the good kind of sparks, out of which inspiration flies.