“The Testomony of Ann Lee” stars Amanda Seyfried because the founding father of the Shakers, a spiritual sect fashioned within the 18th century and identified for each its pursuit of full social equality and its chants and dances designed to rid the physique of sin. Utilizing songs based mostly on actual Shaker hymns, the film’s most technically formidable and narratively gratifying scenes depict these vigorous motions as communal expressions of starvation, obedience, grief, devotion and ecstasy.
“You possibly can’t inform the story of Ann Lee with out displaying their worship, and we put lots of thought into decoding and creating that onscreen,” stated director Mona Fastvold. “We had numerous challenges — dancing within the woods with roots and holes, in a tiny room with a whole lot of candles, on a ship with an actual storm — and we solely actually had a half-day to shoot every one. But it surely was thrilling to see how the constraints knowledgeable the motion.”
The movie’s Shaker dances are rooted in historic supplies like Baroque and spiritual paintings, written descriptions from early believers and statements from numerous detractors. “Their critics described their ‘wild’ worship intimately — how they’d dance for days at a time and make all these loopy sounds — and we undoubtedly used that,” stated Fastvold. “An important factor was that the entire actions have which means. It couldn’t simply be cool strikes; it’s prayer.”
Celia Rowlson-Corridor, who labored with Fastvold on 2018’s “Vox Lux,” created choreography that charts the Shakers’ evolution. In scenes recounting their origins in Manchester, England, the believers attain upward with starvation of their eyes, lean on one another in collective caress and hit their chests laborious, “nearly like pounding the solutions out of your physique,” she stated. “These folks wanted to imagine in one thing aside from what they’d been given, so I wished it to really feel like a rave of pleasure, youth and fervor. It seems to be ‘sinful,’ but it surely’s truly very earnest, trustworthy motion.”
Amanda Seyfried in “The Testomony of Ann Lee.”
(Searchlight Footage)
In later scenes, when the Shakers are established and actively recruiting in America, the worshipers march in straight traces and concentric circles, all whereas frivolously tapping their shoulders, crossing their arms and looking out straight forward. “It’s prayer by motion, the factor they’re going to do every single day for his or her relationship to God,” stated Rowlson-Corridor. “The motion doesn’t must be so large anymore, as a result of the work has been carried out and there’s a sure understanding now. As an alternative of looking for the fireplace, it’s extra like tending to the fireplace.”
Illustrating these emotions of religion meant giving gestural instructions to greater than 100 extras on set along with choreographing dozens of actors and dancers. To not point out meticulously planning the actions of the digicam, which at instances performs the wallflower, observing the group from a distance, and at others strikes to the middle of the motion, panning wildly as if it too is dancing.
“We wished to point out off the gorgeous shapes Celia made, however we additionally wished to make the digicam one of many believers,” stated cinematographer William Rexer. “I took my iPhone to rehearsals, Celia identified moments within the dance that have been vital to seize, and we mapped out particular photographs. It was that course of, again and again, of how the digicam may turn out to be an energetic participant.”
One standout sequence — interspersing the Shakers’ steadfast reward by the seasons of their arduous voyage from England to the U.S. — was filmed on the Götheborg of Sweden, a completely operational reproduction of an 18th century ship. The actors danced on its tight deck, chanting whereas leaning left and proper to imitate the ocean waves; between takes, they modified costumes to repeat the choreography by wind, rain and snow.
(Ian Spanier/For The Occasions)
“My plan for that day was to begin dry and work our approach into the moist,” stated Fastvold. “There was an actual storm coming in, so we began with beautiful blue skies that really grew darkish, with actual rain mixing with our rain towers. We solely shot within the rain as soon as — the actors’ costumes received so heavy when moist, but it surely had an impact as if that they had steadied their sea legs within the storm.”
On the middle of those musical moments is Seyfried, executing the various choreography with a visual, unwavering conviction. “I used to be on the highschool dance group as a result of I loved it as soon as I realized it, however getting there has at all times taken so lengthy, and it’s irritating when you’ll be able to’t keep in mind a transfer,” she stated. “However the strikes are so instinctual, grounded and human, so it’s liberating to carry out. And when it was time to show the dances to the opposite actors, I used to be the particular person within the room who already knew them! That’s the primary time that’s ever occurred to me. It put me in a little bit of a management function, which was becoming.”
Between the spectacular group numbers are emotional solos, by which Seyfried depicts Ann’s life-altering incarceration and heartbreaking motherhood journey. “The Shakers’ existence is 100% from these experiences,” stated Seyfried, who sang reside in a lot of the movie. “Once I was struggling as a result of [the notes are] so excessive up within the register, that push was good for the work. It was satisfying as an artist to discover a option to channel that discomfort as simply one other approach I may honor her.”
