Giving students, teachers, and parents an edge in dance education
Pablo, our featured photographer, claims to be the worst dancer in the world. He has some friends, however, who dance in a local academy. One of them asked him to shoot this performance. He remembers feeling very surprised when the photographed dancer, Karina, began the show in her red shoes. Pablos spent the entire dance in pursuit of her feet, searching for the perfect balance. He shot at 800 ISO with a Sigma 70-200 f/2.8 at 200 mm (400 mm for a 4/3 camera).
“Bad lighting and quick movements make for very difficult focusing but, when you get it right it’s just feels so rewarding, and sure enough it made me a better photographer. The individuals themselves were an inspiration to me, everyone in that class were extraordinary talents, intelligent, high minded, and always with the good of the community in mind.”
René Michaels is a professional photographer in Austin, TX. His interest in dance stems from growing up in the Los Angeles, CA. area in the ’70s & ’80s where, working as a dance club Disc Jockey, he witnessed the birth of Hip-Hop and got his “fifteen minutes of fame” appearing on the nationally syndicated TV series “Soul Train” as a featured dancer for several years.
In 1999 he published a duo-tone series of his three sons which remains his most honored work. Since then he has published more than seven photography collections. Exhibitions of his work, including The Beauty of Ballet have toured throughout The Netherlands.
Peninsula Ballet Theatre performs in venues throughout the California Bay Area including East Bay. In addition to performances, they educate both pre-professional and recreational students of dance via the PBT Conservatory of Dance. This photo is from PBT’s 2008 Nutcracker. The dancer, playing The Rose in The Waltz of the Flowers, is a company apprentice.
Dance studios are alive right now a dance recital costumes are rolling in. Students finalize and perfect their performance numbers, parents flurry in and out of offices, and teachers and studio owners hope for the best while preparing for the worst… just in case! The vibrant color of this sweet memory reminds me that the time is at hand for these special events.
I am attracted to the rich color of this photograph as well as the familiarity of this student-teacher moment. It also brought to mind some of my own childhood dance performances. Less formal affairs than the elaborate showcases which are the norm at dance studios across the country, these were often held in small or unique spaces. Seeing this photo reminded me that as a child, what mattered to me was not the stage, costume, or bright lights.
This photo is from rehearsal for Gregory Hancock Dance Theatre’s Contemporary Nutcracker as performed by Conservatory of Dance Studio Company. The girl in the photo is “Klara” and she is about to pick up the sword, illuminated, and kill the Mouse Queen in revenge of her dead Nutcracker.”
I was so wowed by this image when I saw it appear in the Sunday Snapshot pool. The distal reach of the dancer’s arms create a striking diagonal and, of course, the musculature of a dancer’s back is always an absorbing feature. I was very taken by the angular shape of the body and play of shadow and light, and I thought you would be too. About the Photographer: Dave Wood is a part-time photographer from Denver, Colorado. His primary focus is on black and white images of the nude human form.
Brian Mengini has been involved with the dance world for over 8 years, first as company management and now as a photographer. He is based in Philadelphia, PA and has shot the Royal Ballet of London, Pennsylvania Ballet, Ballet X and many others. His recent project Spirit of the Fallen, pays tribute to the fallen officers of the Philadelphia Police Department. The photo exhibition, which depicts dancers from the Philly area wearing angel wings, also raises funds for the FOP Survivor’s Fund.
Hannah’s “The Eiffel Tower,” a lovely arabesque penchée silhouetted against a beachscape, is a welcome sight as I sit at my computer on a winter’s day in the U.S. Even here in Houston it’s been chilly so I figured many of you might also appreciate the warming thought of dancing on the beach with sand squishing through your toes!
