In June of 2010 I photographed Hubbard Street Dance Chicago during their Inside Out performance in the Modern Wing of The Art Institute of Chicago. The event was amazing and featured choreography from almost all the dancers at Hubbard Street specifically made to be shown within the Art Institute of Chicago.

This month, at the The Ruth Page Center for the Arts here in Chicago, Choreographers Brian Gephart, Rebecca Niziol and Eduardo Zúñiga premiered their stunning pieces. I was there to photograph the performances and I was very taken by the amazing works presented. All three choreographers showed such an amazing level of craftsmanship to their work, and the dancers performed with such grace and power. It was such a captivating experience that underlined the fact that Chicago is truly at the forefront of dance collaboration in the community. Thanks so much to DanceWorks Chicago for hosting the event! Many thanks also to Vin who invited me to come photograph!

This video was produced for The Joffrey Ballet‘s 2010 Gala and was the opening for the evening of performances. Shown in the Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University in downtown Chicago, it was fantastically received and kicked-off a fabulous night of celebration for the world-renowed ballet company.

Inspiration for this piece started in late February of 2010 when Executive Director Christopher Clinton Conway and Marketing Manager Amanda Mestemacher contacted me and asked if I could create a glamorous, visually interesting video that would open the show. Of course I wanted to. Having created last years gala video, I wanted to improve upon the basic concept of showing the dancers faces while they worked. This basic idea led to the incorporation of the dancers improvising in front of the camera in their rehearsal studios.

While thinking of ways to best portray the vibrant community in the company, I also wanted to have some sort of message about the arts that the video could express. This concept led to the beginning voice-over by the late Artistic Director and Co-Founder Gerald Arpino. The clip is from a television interview, where he speaks about the importance of experiencing art in order to understand it, specifically in the context of dance programs on television, which were gaining in popularity. The other voice-over is from the Joffrey’s current Artistic Director Ashley C. Wheater, who speaks about how it is important to support the arts in order for us to explore and evolve the dance world. These two quotes that blended the past and present were just what I needed to help give context to the video as a whole.

The project evolved further as myself and other dancers felt the need to find alternate locations in which to dance and be filmed. Dancer Fabrice Calmels had the brilliant idea of having himself float around the city in an athletic jump that had him doing close to 300 jumps from The Civic Opera building to the Chicago Tribune Tower on Michigan Avenue. The effect wound-up being one of the highlights of the video.

Dancers Allison Walsh and Graham Maverick did a quick pas de deux in a skate park in the Logan Square neighborhood, until the police showed up and told us that we needed to leave, as the park was closed.

Dylan Gutierrez volunteered the roof-top of his downtown apartment with which to dance on. The effect and texture of the skyscrapers in the background added to the amazing moves that Dylan, Michael Smith and Derrick Agnoletti performed.

While we were getting some amazing footage outside the studios, inside the studios was no less inspired. Stacy Keller brought her son Andrew in for the shoot, and it led to a fresh interlude in the video with Andrew making faces and being generally adorable. Dancer Erica Lynette Edwards decided to go all-out and wore her gala dress and pointe shoes to the shoot, which underlined the glamour of the evening and made her look absolutely stunning.

Everyone came to their shoot with amazing, funny, sexy and brilliant ideas.

Special thanks to Artistic Director Ashley C. Wheater, Executive Director Christopher Clinton Conway and Marketing Manager Amanda Mestemacher for their patience and direction at all times during the piece’s creation.

Special thanks also to the dedication and creativity of all the dancers at The Joffrey Ballet: April Daly, Erica Lynette Edwards, Yumelia Garcia, Elizabeth Hansen, Jaime Hickey, Anastacia Holden, Victoria Jaiani, Stacy Keller, Suzanne Lopez, Erin McAfee, Caitlin Meighan, Amber Neumann, Alexis Polito, Megan Quiroz, Valerie Robin, Christine Rocas, Abigail Simon, Allison Walsh, Jenny Winton, Joanna Wozniak, Kara Zimmerman, Matthew Adamczyk, Derrick Agnoletti, Miguel Blanco, Fabrice Calmels, Raul Casasola, Jonathan Dummar, Brian Gephart, John Mark Giragosian, David Gombert, Dylan Gutierrez, Calvin Kitten, Graham Maverick, Thomas Nicholas, Aaron Rogers, Ricardo Santos de Paula, Tanner Schwartz, Tian Shuai, Patrick Simoniello, Michael Smith, Temur Suluashvili and Mauro Villanueva.

It was a joy to be able to create this piece for such an amazing, dynamic and beautiful company.

In March of 2010 The Baltimore Ballet celebrated 10 years of brilliant artistic achievement. I was hired to photograph their technical rehearsal and performance that evening. Everything was amazing, and the works presented raised the bar of artistic excellence in the Baltimore area to a higher level. Special thanks to Directors Cem & Elysabeth Catbas for letting me be a part of such an important night in the company’s history.

In March, at the Ruth Page Center for the Arts in Chicago, I was lucky enough to be on hand to photograph the tech rehearsal of DanceChance. It was a fabulous show and the pieces presented were amazing. Choreography by Javier Amaya, Maurine Stellhorn, and Ben Wardell. Check out more about DanceChance (seriously it is amazing)

In November and December of 2009 the Moscow Ballet hired me to photograph their Nutcracker tour of the western United States. It was an incredible experience to be able to work daily with the highly skilled artists, crew and staff of the company. The above photos are from some of the many stunning performances of the tour.

In November and December of 2009 the Moscow Ballet hired me to photograph their Nutcracker tour of the western United States. It was an incredible experience to be able to work daily with the highly skilled artists, crew and staff of the company. The above photos are some portraits of a few of the artists of the company.

In November and December of 2009 the Moscow Ballet hired me to photograph their Nutcracker tour of the western United States. It was an incredible experience to be able to work daily with the highly skilled artists, crew and staff of the company. The above photos are of the dancers as they prepare for the show in their dressing rooms.

In November and December of 2009 the Moscow Ballet hired me to photograph their Nutcracker tour of the western United States. It was an incredible experience to be able to work daily with the highly skilled artists, crew and staff of the company. The above photos represent the amazing dancers while they take class in the various cities we stopped at.