To Hold My Love
Film Review
To Hold my Love, choreographed by Elettra Giunta, began as a staged work for 5 dancers, conceived for Resolution 2022. It now blossoms on screen, as a sensual honouring of the beautifully complex female experience.
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"If there were lessconsequences,” a repeated phrase that remains lodged in my memory of the film and its poetry. “If there were less consequences, I’d play more with the masculine and feminine. I’d dance with my sisters under the androgynous moon, sunbathe topless on the beach under the masculine sun, and bathe naked in the feminine waters." The word ‘if’ tempts dreamy possibilities that could exist for these women, for all women, in another reality.
Giunta asked each dancer to write during the creative process, words that grew into solos and voice-overs. One dancer relinquishes control, spinning into a frenzy that the others quietly witness. Another is seductive but tormented, her swaying hips disrupted by twitches. These solos do not unfold as a procession of separate women; instead, each individual is essential to the whole. When their heads meet to form a Fibonacci spiral, a collective intimacy is tangible.
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Juxtaposition is a persisting theme, a simultaneous shedding and protecting, aided by costume. Worn in a warehouse setting, designs by Lynn La Yaung are both fierce red and gentler blue. Denim and wool are torn, spliced and strapped to the body like armour, a contrast to smooth bodycon dresses we see later on the beach. Inevitably, this contrast speaks of female multiplicity. The power conveyed by their armour, punch and poise cannot exist without their utter vulnerability in the next moment.
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The beach scenes feel like respite, serene flickers of potential. Here, their bodies form a chain, installed on the sand like a sculpture, unmoving except for the wind that threatens their balance. The presence of the ocean is a magnificent metaphor. Here, femininity is fluid, layered and unravelling like the waves upon the shore.
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This film does not leave the audience to their own devices. The camera dictates the viewpoint using a nuanced architecture of depth. We see the dancers, but also how they see each-other. The word ‘hold’ conjures many images, not only physical, and we are guided through them all, gripped by what the camera wills us to notice.
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To Hold My Love is fuelled by a harnessing of strength and solidarity, a sense of home forged in others. It faces gritty emotions, felt when the dancers violently arch their backs and strike us with their eyes. But sensitivity seeps through every scene; hands caress skin, arms embrace two, three bodies at a time. From a soft, safe place emerges a daunting question: what is at risk if you are truly seen and heard? To Hold My Love bravely moves forward in seeking the answer.
Georgia Howlett
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Photography by Will Hazel
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