Editorial – Page 25

Finis: Photographing Alvin Ailey’s Gala

November 30, 2012 by 4dancers

by Christopher Duggan

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater hosts gorgeous and energetic galas at New York City Center every year. Photographing the Gala means capturing exciting moments on stage as well as the many smiling guests. Mo’Nique was the honorary chair this year, and I caught New York Times photographer (and my hero) Bill Cunningham talking with Ailey dancers.

Robert Battle and Mo'nique — Mo’Nique and Robert Battle

bill cunningham — NY Times Photographer Bill Cunningham With Dancers From Alvin Ailey

This season, the always-incredible dancers performed Ohad Naharin’s Minus 16, pulling audience members on stage — and the crowd went wild for the honorary dancers!

It was one of Renee Robinson’s last performances with the Alvin Ailey company. She carried her signature umbrella in the world-famous Revelations. The score for the work was sung live by Jessye Norman, Anika Noni Rose, and Brian Stokes Mitchell.

renee robinson dances revelations — Renee Robinson in Revelations

Christopher Duggan bio — Christopher Duggan, Photo by Julia Newman

Contributor Christopher Duggan is the founder and principal photographer of Christopher Duggan Photography, a New York City-based wedding and dance photography studio. Duggan has been the Festival Photographer for Jacob’s Pillow Dance since 2006. In this capacity, and as a respected New York-based dance photographer, he has worked with renowned choreographers and performers of international acclaim as well as upstarts in the city’s diverse performance scene.

He has created studio shots of Gallim Dance, Skybetter + Associates and Zvidance, among others, and in 2011 alone, he has photographed WestFest at Cunningham Studios, Dance From the Heart for Dancers Responding to Aids, The Gotham Dance Festival at The Joyce Theater, and assisted Nel Shelby Productions in filming Vail International Dance Festival.

Duggan often teams up with his talented wife and Pillow videographer Nel Shelby (http://nelshelby.com). A New York City-based husband and wife dance documentation team, they are equipped to document performances, create and edit marketing videos and choreography reels, and much more.

Christopher Duggan Photography also covers Manhattan’s finest wedding venues, the Metropolitan and Tri-State areas, and frequently travels to destination weddings. The company’s mission is straightforward and heartfelt – create timeless, memorable images of brides, grooms, their families and friends, and capture special moments of shared love, laughter and joy.

His photographs appear in The New York Times, Destination I Do, Photo District News, Boston Globe, Financial Times, Dance Magazine, Munaluchi Bridal, and Bride & Bloom, among other esteemed publications and popular wedding blogs. One of his images of Bruce Springsteen was added to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame’s celebrated photography collection in 2010. His company has been selected for inclusion in “The Listings” in New York Weddings magazine.

DANY (Dance Art New York) Studios Get A Facelift

November 28, 2012 by 4dancers

dany lobby — DANY Lobby Before, photo by Cathryn Lynn

Interior designer Vicente Wolf recently took part in a pro-bono redesign of several areas of the DANY (Dance Art New York) Studios (305 West 38th St.) which is operated by The Joyce Theater Foundation. Wolf collaborated with Eric Paeper, a recent MFA graduate of the New York School of Interior Design on the project, which features 11 studios.

The redesign incorporates things such as an updated color scheme (lacks, grays, and whites, with vibrant pear green highlights), better lighting, and stencil work featuring the DANY Studios name (as well as the names of dance companies) on the walls. New furniture and decor was donated by companies such as Crate and Barrel, and the entire project was documented by SPACEStv channel.

Wolf, a lifelong patron of the arts and one of Architectural Digest’s AD100 designers, was approached by a friend that is affiliated with The Joyce Theater Foundation to help give the space a much-needed facelift. 4dancers corresponded with the designer via e-mail and asked a few questions about the design process…

There are so many projects that you could have chosen to lend your talents to–what was it specifically that drew you to working with the space at DANY?

My great respect for dance and the amount of energy that dancers put into art needed to be rewarded with a wonderful space where they can relax after a hard day of rehearsal.

What did you want the space to feel like when it was finished?

I wanted it to have a uplifting sense of comfort and design.

Can you highlight a few of the design elements that you think transformed the space the most?

The paint donated by PPG gave it a facelift; the convex mirrors which alter the space of its reflections; painting the wood, which helped to unify the space; the clean lines of the upholstery that blended well with the existing floors.

Take a look at the space now:

The official “unveiling” of the new studios was October 25, 2012.

new york dance space — New furniture helps update the DANY space

DANYphoto1 — A new color scheme modernizes the look and brightens the atmosphere

Performing In The London 2012 Olympics

November 27, 2012 by 4dancers

Today 4dancers welcomes Amie Brotherton who is going to share her experience performing in the London Olympics this year. It’s an honor that most dancers will never experience in their lifetime, so we thought it would be interesting to see what she had to say about the event…

london 2012 olympics — Amie Brotherton at the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games

Olympic Performer. Diary of events.

November of 2011 I applied to audition to be involved in the Olympics Opening Ceremonies. As a dancer and dance teacher I relished the opportunity to be involved and hopefully perform so I filled in all the information about myself, my experiences and my specific skills. I received an email from the ceremonies asking me to come to an audition, so off I headed to East London.

After that, I received another email inviting me back to a second which was a role-specific audition.

16 January I received an email to say I’d been successful along with an invitation to take part in the Opening Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympics. I was completely thrilled!!

15 April The first rehearsal we were met by none other than Danny Boyle himself. He sat us down and explained his whole vision, showing us a video of what he wanted the ceremony to look like and a scale model of the stadium.

We spent 4 weeks working very hard in the studio on the contents of our segment. Always shattered but on a high when I got home, each new part we learnt I’d practice at home be to sure I would keep ahead, remembering everything for the next week!

20 May We met in an outside space where there were a lot more cast members and we were all put together in bigger groups. We continued to learn new parts and integrate them with other groups and stood from week to week in any weather from blazing 25*C sunshine, to 11*C rain and wind.

olympic dancers — Amie and her fellow performers

21 June Stadium day! We had been given strict instructions about security and as we came out of Stratford station and walked towards the park, excitement was mounting. We went through security and were faced with the huge and beautiful stadium in front of us, the aquatic centre on our left and the water polo centre on our right. We walked across the bridge and it all looked very impressive. Everything was huge!

We began rehearsing 3-4 times a week, each rehearsal bringing new surprises, whether it was an addition to the set, special effects, or trying on our make up and costumes! The press made numerous attempts to find out what’s going on – including flying helicopters over us trying to take photos, and infiltrating our radio communicators.

20 – 26 July Now we were putting on dress rehearsals for crowds of around 40,000. This was our first true taste of having a large audience. Feedback from the crowd was immense and gave us an indication of what it could be like on opening night. All the audiences were amazing, and they did #savethesurprise for us–enabling us to keep the secret from the world as to just what they could expect on the 27^th of July. [Read more…]

The Russians Are Coming: Moscow Ballet’s Version Of The Nutcracker

November 26, 2012 by 4dancers

by Vicki Crain

ballerina in nutcracker — Karyna Shatkovskaya

Without a Sugar Plum in sight, on Sunday, December 2^nd, the Moscow Ballet brings the Great Russian Nutcracker to Rosemont’s Akoo Theatre. The touring company hit North America for a 73-city marathon of performances crossing the U.S. and Canada earlier this month. This version of the Nutcracker story differs from the one traditionally seen in the Midwest. The iconic Tchaikovsky score remains, but instead of traveling to the Land of Sweets in Act II, the lead character, Masha, is escorted by Father Christmas and the Snow Maiden to the Land of Peace and Harmony where Masha turns into the Dove of Peace and is honored by emissaries from around the world.

Karyna Shatkovskaya, 28, will be dancing the lead role of Masha (aka. Clara/Maria). She has won numerous awards including the Second International Ballet Competition (IBC), Kharkov Ballet Competition- at the age of 9 – and the Third International Children and Youth Classical Dance Competition. She’s been dancing with the Moscow Ballet since 2011. 4dancers spoke with Shatkovskaya briefly over the phone, via soloist/Audition Director Svetlana, who served as interpreter. Both dancers admit the touring schedule is difficult, frequently leaving immediately post-performance and sometimes taking up to nine hours to get to the next venue.

the nutcracker ballet — Karyna Shatkovskaya

Even though Shatkovskaya has been performing the lead role in The Nutcracker for years (she debuted as Maria in the Odessa National Opera and Ballet in 2002), she still enjoys it simply because she loves dancing. After warming up in an hour-long class with the company, she likes to get some alone time to calm down and prepare emotionally. No pictures before the show is her only superstition. Joining her on stage will be local kids dancing the parts of Party children, mice, snowflakes, angels and butterflies. Interesting things to look for in this production are three-dimensional, hand-painted backdrops and large handcrafted puppets designed by Russian puppet master Valentin Federov.

For ticket information, visit www.nutcracker.com

BIO: Vicki Crain is the voice behind Rogue Ballerina, an excellent blog that covers the Chicago-area dance scene. Check out her site for interviews, previews, reviews and more, and follow her on Twitter at @rogueballerina

Helen Pickett: Atlanta Ballet’s New Resident Choreographer

November 19, 2012 by 4dancers

Helen Pickett started dancing at the age of eight after her mother called in and won tickets to see Nutcracker in a contest on the radio. Now, she will be taking on the title of resident choreographer at Atlanta Ballet–a three-year commitment that includes new works and an annual workshop. In-between, her life has been quite a journey.

Helen performed with William Forsythe’s Ballett Frankfurt for more than a decade and she has choreographed for companies such as Boston Ballet, Ballet X, Ballet West, Dance Theatre of Harlem and Smuin Ballet. These are just a few of the accomplishments she has garnered over the course of her career thus far.

4dancers.org asked Helen some questions via e-mail to learn more about her background and what her thoughts are in terms of signing on with Atlanta Ballet…

What is your background in dance?

At 14 started training with San Francisco Ballet School. At 19, I met William Forsythe while he was creating New Sleep for SFB. I flew to Frankfurt to see the company and take class. I started Ballett Frankfurt the next season. I moved to NYC in 1999 to start acting with the theater company, Wooster Group, director, Elizabeth LeCompte. Also in 1999, I started teaching at The Ailey School, under the direction of Denise Jefferson.

How did your dance career wind up evolving into choreography?

In 2005 I received a call from Mikko Nissinen, director at Boston Ballet, asking me if I would like to choreograph for the company. I said yes. The wind up was urgent. Meaning I knew I must say yes now. Prior to this call, I had choreographed solos for students at The Ailey School, Purchase College and Julliard. I need to be in a dance studio.

Did your time with William Forsythe have an impact on your choreographic style? Why or why not?

Bill sees/saw/will always see possibility in life. Tapping into one’s curiosity creates possibility. Forsythe and many others, inside and outside of dance, have influenced my lifestyle. The sum of our lives impacts all decisions we come to.

How would you describe your style and process? [Read more…]

Disclosure – Affiliate & Ad Info

Copyright Notice