The movie amser/time of the Welsh choreographer and director Deborah Light takes us on a journey through time and space. The three characters move on the verge between land and sea in three remarkable sites along Bae Ceredigon/Cardigan Bay. As if the three of them explore the no man’s land where high and low tides clash and where drought and floods are in a constant battle for dominance. That same battle lies in the foundation of myths and legends for hidden secrets, lost lands and forests, that remind us of past catastrophic events or warn us about forthcoming ones. 

The journey began 20 000 years ago when the last Ice Age froze the British islands and ends today, carrying with itself the anticipation of apocalypse as a result of the climate crisis, caused by human activities. 

At a first glance the unbiased viewer will hardly say that this film is a screendance movie, because in it  there is no choreography as we know it. There are no attractive, dynamic and impressive technical dance combinations. But the cinematic story is precisely choreographed and built, and relies on minimalistic movements that visualise strong and meaningful physical metaphors. The water-drops deceivingly clash, splatter and disappear after the impact with the rocky shore, but actually they mould it permanently and relentlessly. People, even though physically perishable and transient, in comparison to tectonic forces and planetary timoflow, irreversibly change and sometimes ruthlessly destroy the natural balance while striving to tame the environment they live in so as to subdue nature. The three episodes of amser/time tell us exactly this story of confrontation through time and space. 

In the first episode the low tide reveals Sarn Gynfelyn – glacial moraine laid down 20 000 years ago when ice sheets melted. The retreat of the ice is the event that marks the beginning of our known civilization. The climate changes are the needed global conditions that have enabled human expansion. The cliff with its cobalt grey rocks looks like a secret path through the sea. From a bird’s eye we see 3 people going out of the depths of sea and time, as if they are living debris from a vanished continent. Every one of these Atlanteans takes a rock and plases it on top of their necks balancing its weight, and ‘’saves’’ it from the raging waters back to the shore. Then, they dig a hole in the wet sand and ‘’dive’’ in it. This physical image carries a lot of different meanings – the desire to become one with a new surrounding, the expansive urge to civilise new territories, the instinct to hide and bury your head in the sand, waiting for the danger to pass by itself.

In the second episode we are in the forest Borth that had flourished for a few thousand years. Now, submerged by the sea, it is re-exposed in recent storms. Geology tells us a different story, but the Cantre’r Gwaelod legend is still alive in these territories. It tells the story of the lost fertile lands in Cardigan Bay and its believers claim that both Sarn Gynfelyn and Borth are evidence that they existed. The planted dreams and ambitions thousands of years ago now blossom in the stone forest. The rooted bodies of the dancers open up, grow and stretch vertically, reaching their limbs to touch the sky. 

Moving forward in time we arrive in the seaside town Fairbourne – built on a saltmarsh it is an attractive vacation town and an example of English industrial wealth. It is expected to be the first UK town to be depopulated due to the rising level of the sea. In 30 years time it will be swallowed by the saltmarsh after less than 200 years of existence.

Here and now, at the pier, the conquerors become protectors. The camera turns at 180 degrees and our Atlantheas turn into modern Atlases, trying to resist with their bodies and stop the destructive forces of nature. The forces that they themselves have awakened. This time they not only carry the weight of their own existence, but are also responsible for the survival of the planet.

Amser/time is a poetic story about who we are, where we come from and where we are going. A story, built from raw and captivating kinetic images. It is an attempt to unravel the balance, to feel the pulse and enter the eternal dance of the planet that has begun long before our existence and our (self)destructive ambitions that threatened it.

Deborah Light is a dance artist, choreographer and director from Cardiff with a years-long experience in dance, theatre, cinema and site-specific practices. She creates art works as an independent choreographer and is one of the co-founders of Light / Ladd / Emberton. As all of them point out, they are not a lawyer firm, but a creative collective of three dance artists and one producer.   

In 2014 Deborah, Eddie and Gwyn worked together for the first time and created the performance  CAITLIN. Laura Drane joined them a year after, in 2015, as a producer and since then they have been working on different projects together. They collaborate with other artists to create, show and distribute art works that they otherwise could not create separately. Their bilingual productions excite people both physically and emotionally. The performances are live and the stages can be castles, halls, theatres, urban sites or beaches in Wales. The artists research and discover little known stories from the cultural heritage of Wales and connect the past with the present, the local with the global, and combine the personal with the political. Part of their creative projects are CAITLIN; Croesi Traeth; Disgo Distaw Owain Glyndŵr; Danfona Ddawns. Their creative focus is the climate crisis. 

The screendance movie amser/time achieved great success and recognition, and won awards in 5 festivals, including the award for dance movie in Varna’s Moving Body Festival. It was also a finalist and semifinalist in 3 other festivals, and in the selection program of 19 more.