DUET

YiMeng Liu

London Contemporary Dance School

China/ UK

This film is a search and recognition of the identity of fraternal twin dancers. We share similar genes, but we are also searching for our own unique identity. We have both harmony and conflict, similarities and differences between us. We are exploring the complexity of identity and the importance of finding one's unique position in the world. This is our dialogue with the environment, as well as our dialogue with our own souls.

Attachments

Dina Amin

California Institute of the Arts

Palestine/ USA

How do we feel when we are distant from our partners?
In Attachments, we explore the inner worlds of being in a toxic relationship, juxtaposing the solitude of being alone with the uneasy comfort of staying together.
The idea is reflected through body movements of the two sides. The dancer grapples with the anxiety of their partner's unpredictability, contrasting it with the familiarity of shared moments that, despite their pain, feel safe. This inner conflict highlights the struggle between seeking freedom from emotional turmoil and the magnetic pull of what they know, even if it’s harmful. Through a raw examination of relationship trauma, the narrative delves into the complexities of love, fear, and the quest for self-identity amidst chaos.

BUNNY

Madeleine Abrahams, Grace Delstanche, Maya Fish, Mina Meier, Billy William James

Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance

UK

BUNNY follows four girls on the journey of a night out and captures emotional and social shifts represented by the motif of bunny ears. While relating to a collective experience of going out, we’re also embodying the individual experiences which both divide and unite us. The film captures the vulnerability of being damaged but in that, allowing ourselves to feel and accept the support that comes from the sisterhood that emerges in these gritty, potentially dangerous environments.

Is

Lucia Pierlot, Jenny Li, Elizabete Bele, Amber Heatrick, Celia Cheung

Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance

UK

Shifting Landscapes

Megan Harman, Emily Jasper, Julian Stark, Thea Chamberlain

Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance

UK

Traces

Sumi Xiaomei Cheng, Jui-Ying Huang

Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance

China/ Taiwan/ UK/ Germany

Dive into Traces, a mythic, multi-sensory journey where art and movement blur the lines between the professional and the amateur. A crimson fan unfurls like living flesh against the foaming sea. Figurines dissolve into its curling veil as waves crash into white, echoing the rhythms of transformation. In a dance studio, the ghost of a rocky shore flickers across the walls. A camera drops. A woman rises. Through symbolic animals, fragmented imagery, and layered soundscapes, Traces becomes a vivid dialogue between opposing worlds. It takes you on a surreal journey through memory, somatic dance, and self-discovery, propelled by a bold, march-like score that blends electronic textures, cello, and Chinese percussion, blurring the line between the ordinary and the extraordinary. Traces is a poetic and visually arresting short film that invites audiences to reflect on how we define creativity, professionalism, and the spaces in between.

Initially as part of Sumi Xiaomei Cheng’s Master of Fine Arts showcase at Trinity Laban (2024), Traces screened in the official selection of the New York City Electroacoustic Music Festival 2025. Follow Traces on Instagram @tracesdancefilm.