Laura Taler

Laura Taler (Canada)

Duration: 24:00

2025 marks the 30th anniversary of the village trilogy. Heralded by Dance International Magazine as marking the beginning of the dancefilm boom in Canada, the village trilogy alludes to the millions of people uprooted through emigration in the past century, while exploring ideas of home and family. Employing the physical characteristics of early cinema, filmmaker/choreographer Laura Taler and her dancers capture a time and place that is beyond our grasp, but not beyond our memory.

In 2002, the Los Angeles Times' critic Lewis Segal wrote: "For depth of feeling, photographic sensitivity and movement invention, the central (duet) portion of Laura Taler's 1995 'the village trilogy' may be the most memorable footage in the festival. ...[H]er mastery of choreography and direction is unquestioned." 

Direction: Laura Taler
Choreography: Laura Taler
Interpretation: Darcey Callison, Donald Himes, Jane Townsend, Jim Allodi, José Navas, Kim Frank, Laura Taler, Luc Ouellette
Camera: Micheal Spicer
Editing: Robert Benson
Sound Design: Philip Strong
Production: Grimm Pictures, Laura Taler
Costumes: Tracey Glass

produced with the assistance of National Film Board of Canada (PAFPS Program), Canada Council for the Arts, Toronto Arts Council, Ontario Arts Council, Laidlaw Foundation

Donal Himes, Kim Frank, Darcey Callison, Jane Townsend and Jim Allodi in the village trilogy, photo Melinda Wiltshire-Gibson

Laura Taler (Canada)
Duration: 47:00

Poison, exorcism, gender trouble, song and dance intermingle in this darkly funny and disturbing tale of intense yearning.  When a series of adorable monsters reveal themselves near an old tavern, their ordinary acts transform into a chain of micro-disobediences. Told entirely through song, dance, and action, Matryoshka Crush straddles installation,  contemporary video art, dancefilm, and personal narrative, while moving seamlessly between banal reality and absurdist fantasy.

Wearing a series of masks, one layered upon the other like Matryoshka nesting dolls, Laura Taler plays four characters:  KUKERI, BIG HEAD, HAIRY FACE MEDUSA, and LITTLE HEAD.  Each recall, respectively, nature and magic, the old world, female rage, and childlike wonder.  The result is a visceral and material-based performance that tells an unmoored story of bodies out of place, with fuzzy, penetrable boundaries. Hilarious, lusty, and troubling, the actions of the characters orbit around an old tavern, an in-between place to rest, clean, feed, pleasure, and entertain.  

Like the history of the Matryoshka doll, a symbol of Eastern European culture that can be traced back to the Japanese Fukurama doll, Matryoshka Crush magnifies the desire for translation and transformation.  It’s a lament to the old world and how we are enmeshed in one another. Ancient stories linger, but Matryoshka Crush crushes our crush on narrative conventions, leading to liberation and self-invention.

Producer / Director / Performer / Editor: Laura Taler
Guitarist: Victor Anastacio
Associate Producer: Yvonne Coutts
Production Manager: Kelly Spinelli
On-set Production Manager: Jordan MacDonald
Costumes: Mélanie Myers
Costume Assistance: Marisa Gallemit
Wig Construction: Sandy Harris
Director of Photography: Wassim Nohra
Camera Operator: Conor DeVries
Assistant Editor & Data Management: Aylin Abbasi
Sound Recordist: Elia El Haddad
Gaffer: Roland Marckwort
Key Grip: Scott Brown
Swing: Laura Schneider
Set Decorator: Colleen Williamson
Stills Photographer: Melanie Mathieu
Recording Engineer: Dave Draves
Sound Design: Mike Dubue
Sound Mix: Jordy Bell
Colour Correction:Melanie Fordham
Credit Design + Special FX: Stephanie Kuse

Matryoshka Crush was created with the support of Ottawa Dance Directive, Affinity Productions, City of Ottawa, and Canada Council for the Arts.

Laura Taler in Matryosha Crush photo: Melanie Mathieu

Romanian-born Canadian artist Laura Taler works across a range of media including performance, film, sound, sculpture, and installation. Her work explores how memory and history are linked to movement and how the body is able to carry the past without being oppressed by it. Taler began her career as a contemporary dance choreographer before turning her attention to filmmaking and visual art. Her work has been praised for its unique combination of emotional resonance, wit, and striking visuals.  She has been a resident at the Banff Center for the Arts, Centro Cultural Recoleta (Buenos Aires), Carleton Immersive Media Studio (Ottawa), Ottawa Dance Directive, Unpack Studio (Havana) and a fellow at the Institute for Cultural Inquiry (Berlin).  Awards include a Gold Hugo from the Chicago International Film Festival, the Best Experimental Documentary award from Hot Docs!, Best of the Festival from New York’s Dance on Camera Festival, and SAW Gallery’s Dennis Tourbin Prize for New Performance.  Most recently, her public art audio work MONAHAN was awarded the 2024 Creative City Network of Canada’s Public Art Legacy Award.  To mark the 30th anniversary of her first film the village trilogy, screenings and master classes will take place in the 2025/26 season across Canada.

Photo by Charlotte Frank