Aquarium is a choreography of light and motion with a unique perspective on the exquisite beauty that is present in infinite abundance when one focuses attention on the motions of ocean water and its expressive optical qualities. In the first half of the film, composer Max Berlin has created a ‘jazzy’ arrangement of Saint-Saëns’ Aquarium composition (1886, Mouvement VII from the Le carnaval des animaux suite) for bass, piano and percussion that is then followed by an orchestral performance of the original Aquarium composition. Shot in the heavenly Bonaire, Caribbean — in breaking waves, in tide pools and underwater.
The primary creator of the film, Stephanie Maxwell, has a large body of award winning films that are stunningly beautiful and unique. She grew up on the U.S. West Coast and has a background in marine biology and extensive underwater diving. Maxwell is a professor in the School of Film and Animation at Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, New York.
