SOH FILM

Not to cherish both the angel and the animal, both the spirit and
the flesh, is to renounce the whole interrest and greatness of being human,
and it is really tragic that those in whom the two natures are equally
strong, should be made to feel in conflict with themselves. Allan W. Watts “This is it”

The woman in One Ride Pony is a loner. Because she is unable to communicate with her environment, she becomes lost in her fantasies. Pursued by an alter ego, the cowgirl, she ends up as a female centaur in a Go-Go Club. Locations are realistic and ‘recognizably’. Actions become increasingly alienating but continue to be plausible due to the true-to-life setting. The logical structure is maintained throughout the course of the film, so that the tension between the alienating elements and the ‘day-to-day reality’ is optimised.

One Ride Pony is a collaborative project of dancer/performer Susanne Ohmann and visual artist Alex Vermeulen. With her performance ‘One Trick Pony’ Susanne Ohmann won first prize for ‘best body act’ at the 1995 ‘Festival aan de Werf’ in Utrecht. Ohmann approached Alex Vermeulen with the idea of developing ‘One Trick Pony’ into short film. Together they wrote the script. Vermeulen incorporated various elements from Ohmann’s work and introduced a dramatic plot in the scenario. David Shea wrote the music for the film.

One Ride Pony is a new adapted part of States of Humanity (SOH). SOH is a brand introduced by Alex Vermeulen to present projects that focusses on metaphors for human themes such as power, religion, violence, reflection, spirituality, individualism, sexuality and perception. The key words of the brand are communication and information, interaction and reaction. States of Humanity is a comprehensive work of art to which every participant makes a subjective contribution.

In former SOH parts Vermeulen had invited individuals from various disciplines to respond, on the basis of their professional fields, to the SOH metaphors. He approached the philosophers Arthur Danto and Richard Shusterman, the architect Greg Lynn, film maker Lodge Kerrigan, writer Robert Greene, composer David Shea and others. The various facets of the project come about as a result of each other, but also coexist independently. The project has led to a documentary film, a book, an architectonic film, various exhibitions, video installations and performances.

The SOH projects were shown in 1999 among others at the Museum for Contemporary Art Antwerp, the van Abbemuseum Eindhoven, the New Museum of Contemporary Art New York, Monte Video TBA Amsterdam, World Wide Video Festival Amsterdam.

Title: One Ride Pony
Based on One Trick Pony,
a performance by Susanne Ohmann

Premiere september 21, 2000 The Dutch Film Festival 2000, Utrecht, competition program

Broadcast TV March 6, 2001, 10.53 PM, NPS Pitch

Length 10 minuten
Format 35 mm/ color/ stereo
Genre feature
Director Alex Vermeulen
Producer Syndicaat, Cecile Vandeursen
Co-producer NPS, Henk van der Meulen
Screenplay Alex Vermeulen, Susanne Ohmann
Script supervisor Cecile Vandeursen
Director of Photography Benito Strangio
Choreographer Susanne Ohmann
Composer David Shea
Editor Alex Vermeulen
Dancer Susanne Ohmann
Dance Partners Rony Quiroga, Leo Almeida
Actor Steve Malenka
This film is realized with support of het Nederlands Fonds voor de Film en het Amsterdams Fonds voor de Kunst and produced in co-production with the NPS.