vanilla (2023)
Vanilla is a short dance film that considers global warming, existential dread, and the magnificence of the natural world. The film captures the zeitgeist of the 21st century by way of a little known story about how vanilla is grown, harvested, and processed into the sweetness we know and love.
The Vanilla Planifolia orchid, from which vanilla beans grow, has long served as a symbol of femininity for their resemblance to female reproductive organs. The term 'Mother Earth' is widely used to acknowledge the giving nature of our planet that has given birth to species innumerable. In lieu of the repeal of Roe V Wade, the widespread epidemic of misinformation, and climate change denialism I believe there is an opportunity to draw a parallel between our attitudes of valuing women's rights and the environmental crises we face today. If we can protect & honor women, we may be able to protect & honor the planet.
This film is a poetic grievance for the way we have treated, commodified, and valued the feminine, life-giving and life-sustaining characteristics of our planet and the female womb throughout history.
Choreography: Casey Lee Thorne
Dancers: Lindsey Johnson and Cadey Turner
Music: Benjamin Juodvalkis
Filming, Editing & Production: Casey Lee Thorne
Costumes & Props: Casey Lee Thorne
Shot at the Dance Palace in Pt. Reyes, CA
taking my time (2022)
Since 2012, Inside Out Contemporary Ballet has produced and performed contemporary dance works throughout the San Francisco Bay Area and abroad.
To commemorate ten years of dance making, we conceived of a film comprised of excerpts from every piece made in the past ten years. This retrospective, choreographic quilt captures threads of the past that give IOCB's body of work new meaning.
Collaborators include dancers Linda Steele II, Ella Can, Zara Anwar, and music composer Ben Juodvalkis. Costumes, props, filming, editing & production by Casey Lee Thorne.
100 days of dance (2021)
Every day for 100 days, we (Casey Lee Thorne (San Francisco, USA), Rossi Lamont Walter Jr. (Oita, Japan), and Linda Steele II (San Juan, Puerto Rico)) found a place to dance outside. The gesture/sequence of movements were inspired by our surroundings, the current events of the day, and/or our personal lives. After 100 days, we had 300 videos. We edited them together to make this digital screendance for you.
This piece was instigated by the first 100 days of the Biden/Harris administration and the election of the first female Vice President, the global Covid-19 pandemic, and the insurrection on January 6th, 2021.
an exit, a return (2020)
Duet choreographed and performed by Casey Lee Thorne and Linda Steele II at Rodeo Beach in the Marin Headlands - September 2020
What do we need to remember? What do we need to forget? An Exit, A Return is a four part, outdoor dance experience instigated by studio and theater closings due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. The culmination of a year-long improvisational dance research practice throughout Southern Utah and Northern California, this piece challenges assumptions of how live dance performance may function in our society today. I. Sanitation “Every dance is a kind of fever chart, a graph of the heart.” – Martha Graham II. All Good Things Are Wild and Free “In wildness is the preservation of the world.” - Henry David Thoreau III. Be-wilder-ment “The wild is elegantly self-disciplined, self-regulating. That’s what wildness is. Nobody has a management plan for it.” - Gary Snyder IV. Reunion “Whether it is to be utopia or oblivion will be a touch-and-go relay race right up to the final moment.” – Buckminster Fuller
the blinking yellows (2018)
Concept and Direction: Casey Lee Thorne
Dancer: Tori Mazzacone
Music: "On the Nature of Daylight" by Max Richter
The Blinking Yellows is a love letter to downtown San Rafael, where the lights on Fourth Street change to blinking yellow after midnight. The peace of the city at night offers the artist unfettered reflection, comfort, and the resources only solitude can bestow.