Live stream preview

Watch this video and more on OVID.tv

Watch this video and more on OVID.tv

Start your free trial

Already subscribed? Sign in

Phoenix Dance

Dance (collection) • 22m

Directed by Karina Epperlein • Documentary • 2006 • 22 minutes

A heroic journey of transformation and healing, Phoenix Dance challenges our expectations of what it means to be 'disabled.' In March, 2001, renowned dancer Homer Avila discovered that the pain in his hip was cancer. A month later, his right leg and most of his hip were amputated.

Through interviews, studio rehearsals, and performances, Phoenix Dance follows the evolution of Pas, a pas de deux created for Avila by choreographer Alonzo King. In a deeply moving and intimate collaboration with dancer Andrea Flores, Avila creates a new unity a beautiful creature with three legs and four arms in which traditional roles are reversed: the man's vulnerability and the woman's strength sweetly complement each other, and their solo outbursts develop themes of interdependence, trust, and strength.

'For me,' Alonzo King says in the film, 'a pas de deux is a microscopic look into relationship, and relationship could mean you with yourself...It could mean a part of you that's dying. It could be you and your God, you and nature... wherever there is two negotiating or becoming one, or struggling.'

When his cancer recurred, Homer told only a few friends that he was going to forego treatment in order to continue the life he loved dancing.

'Deeply inspirational.' - The New York Times

Tags
academy award, accessibility, accessible, alonzo king, amputate, amputation, amputee, andrea flores, art and architecture, axis dance company, ballet, body, body image, cancer, captioned video, challenged, chondrosarcoma, choreograph, choreographer, choreography, crippled, dance, dancer, disabilities, disability, disabled, disease and disorders, doc, documentary, dvd, expository, film, handicap, handicapped, health, healthcare, healthcare1, homer avila, illness, medicine and nursing, modern dance, one legged, one-legged, oscar, ovid, ovid_ca, pas de deux, performing arts, phoenix dance, physical disabilities, physical rehabilitation, s_0036, s_0067, s_0222, the fanlight collection, title_nopqrs, title_p

Up Next in Dance (collection)

  • Rebels on Pointe
    1:30:01
    Rebels on Pointe

    Rebels on Pointe

    Directed by Bobbi Jo Hart • Documentary • 2016 • 90 minutes

    Exploring universal themes of identity, dreams and family, REBELS ON POINTE is the first-ever documentary film celebrating the world famous Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo. The notorious all-male, drag ballet company was founded o...

  • Polina
    1:48:52
    Polina

    Polina

    Directed by Valérie Müller & Angelin Preljocaj • Drama • With Juliette Binoche, Anastasia Shevtsova, Veronika Zhovnytska, Niels Schneider, Jer Em Ie Bel Ingard • 2017 • 108 minutes

    Rigorously trained from an early age by a perfectionist instructor, Polina (played by Anastasia Shevtsova, a pr...

  • Restless Creature: Wendy Whelan
    1:33:58
    Restless Creature: Wendy Whelan

    Restless Creature: Wendy Whelan

    Directed by Linda Saffire & Adam Schlesinger • Documentary • With Wendy Whelan • 2017 • 90 minutes

    RESTLESS CREATURE: WENDY WHELAN offers an intimate portrait of prima ballerina Wendy Whelan as she prepares to leave New York City Ballet after a record-setting three decades with the company. ...

×