284 steps

Classical theatrical dancing is an interpreting art form. Knowing a larger palette of vocabulary allows you a wider variety of expression and the ability to perform many different ballet steps allows artists a large scope of roles they can perform.

Choreographer and ballet master Ken Ludden (b. 1952) has been teaching classical dance for over 50 years. According to him, there were 284 dance steps in use when he was a dancer but over the past decades, not all of them are used any more.

In „284 steps“, the ballet teacher explains the steps and goes into the history and the contexts that led to the development of this codified movement vocabulary.

In 2022, when Ken Ludden turned 70, dozens of steps were recorded with Ludden explaining one step after the other on video. „284 steps“ project objective: record and make digitally available as much of the knowledge as possible.

Furthermore, background information is narrated in additional videos. A visual layout was designed for the library of the steps and interviews were conducted as well as documentary footage was filmed of Ludden teaching masterclasses and attending dance competitions in Zagreb, Croatia.

A film essay goes into the difficulty of completing the task to work with Luddden, who is very sick and busier than ever coming out of three years of lockdown, in an obsessive attempt to get as much done as possible being faced with his own mortality.

The "Making-of" film essay is N. 3 in the playlist below.