christopher duggan

Finis: A Look Back At Dance Photography

November 30, 2014 by 4dancers

by Christopher Duggan

Jacob’s Pillow Dance just announced four dance companies that will be performing at the festival next summer 2015: Martha Graham Dance Company, Michelle Dorrance / Dorrance Dance, Jessica Lang Dance and New York Theatre Ballet.

I have photographed three of these dance companies at the festival in past years, and I’m looking forward to photographing more dance next summer. A look back below.

Jessica Lang Dance

See more by visiting Christopher’s blog entry on Jessica Lang at the Pillow.

Martha Graham Dance Company

See more by visiting Christopher’s blog entry on Martha Graham Dance Company at the Pillow.

Michelle Dorrance / Dorrance Dance

See more by visiting Christopher’s blog entry on Dorrance Dance at the Pillow.

Contributor Christopher Duggan is a wedding and dance photographer in New York City, the Berkshires and beyond. 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.

Christopher Duggan, Photo by Julia Newman

He photographs dancers in the studio and in performance, for promotional materials, portraits and press, and he often collaborates with his wife, Nel Shelby, and her Manhattan-based dance film and video editing company Nel Shelby Productions (nelshelby.com). Together, they have documented dance at performances from New York City to Vail International Dance Festival.

Christopher Duggan Photography also covers the finest wedding venues in the Metropolitan and Tri-State areas, in Massachusetts and the Berkshires, and frequently travels to destination weddings.

His photographs appear in The New York Times, The Huffington Post, The Knot, Destination I Do, Photo District News, Boston Globe, Financial Times, Dance Magazine, and Munaluchi Bridal, among other esteemed publications and popular dance and wedding blogs. One of his images of Bruce Springsteen was added to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and his dance photography has been exhibited at The National Museum of Dance and Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival.

His Natural Light Studio (http://www.christopherduggan.com/portfolio/natural-light-studio-jacobs-pillow-photography/) at Jacob’s Pillow is his most ambitious photography project to date – check out his blog to see more portraits of dance artists in his pop-up photo studio on the Pillow grounds.

Dance Against Cancer – Dance Performance Photography At AXA Equitable Theater

October 31, 2014 by Rachel Hellwig

by Christopher Duggan

It’s always a joy to photograph Dance Against Cancer because it’s a dance performance for a good cause and there’s an all-star cast. I’m always excited to see all these amazing performers in one place for one evening, and this year was extremely special for me, because my mom survived major pancreatic cancer surgery last year.

Tyler Angle and Maria Kowroski in Chaconne.

The program starts off with a voiceover from the artists, introducing themselves and saying who they are dancing in honor of – or in some cases, who they are dancing in memory of.

Tiler Peck and Robert Fairchild in Acheron.

This year, I made these photographs in honor of my mom. I’ve never had cancer hit so close to home before and it feels very different to contribute to this program when the person on my mind is my own mom. Thankful for her doctors and nurses and thankful for dance artists who move for a cause.

American Dance Machine for the 21st Century in Simply Irresistible.

American Dance Machine for the 21st Century in Simply Irresistible at Dance Against Cancer at AXA Equitable Theater in NYC.

Christopher Duggan Photography also covers the finest wedding venues in the Metropolitan and Tri-State areas, in Massachusetts and the Berkshires, and frequently travels to destination weddings.

More From Inside/Out At Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival

October 1, 2014 by Rachel Hellwig

Marta Renzi & The Project Co at Inside/Out at Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival 2014 — Marta Renzi & The Project Co at Inside/Out at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival 2014

by Christopher Duggan

It will be almost 10 months before dancers return and Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival 2015 kicks in. I love the Pillow so much and am filled with gratitude to have spent 9 summers there. I feel so blessed to have the opportunity to create pictures and make a contribution to this historic place.

Schoen Movement Company at Inside/Out at Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival 2014 — Schoen Movement Company at Inside/Out at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival 2014

To me, nothing says “The Pillow” more than the Inside/Out stage. I spent the last few days of the festival working through more than 20,000 photos from the 2014 summer festival and wanted to share some highlights from this amazing dance space.

Laurie M Taylor/Soul Movement at Inside/Out at Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival 2014 — Laurie M Taylor/Soul Movement at Inside/Out at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival 2014

I’ve said it before, but the Inside/Out stage is my favorite stage to photograph dance. It’s hugely challenging working with the available light, the crowd and making choices on where to shoot from. It keeps me on my toes. There’s never a perfect spot, only the perfect way to make a picture in the spot I’ve chosen.

Oui Danse at Inside/Out at Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival 2014 — Oui Danse at Inside/Out at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival 2014

And more than just the dance on the stage, it’s the atmosphere, the trees, the sunlight, the patrons, the kids and everything put together that tells the story of Jacob’s Pillow in the Berkshires.

Emery Lecrone at Inside/Out at Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival 2014 — Emery Lecrone at Inside/Out at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival 2014

Adam Weinert at Inside/Out at Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival 2014 — Adam Weinert at Inside/Out at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival 2014

Christopher Duggan Photography also covers the finest wedding venues in the Metropolitan and Tri-State areas, in Massachusetts and the Berkshires, and frequently travels to destination weddings.

Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival 2014 – Daniel Ulbricht/Ballet 2014

August 31, 2014 by Rachel Hellwig

28_20140719_Ballet2014-performance_ChristopherDuggan_142 — BALLET 2014 Performance

by Christopher Duggan

I’ve photographed and filmed a lot of top-notch ballet this summer. Nel and I wrapped our fourth season at Vail International Dance Festival, where we filmed some performances by international dance stars from New York City Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Boston Ballet, Pennsylvania Ballet and more. Artistic Director Damian Woetzel outdid himself this year, creating beautiful new partnerships and sharing dance classics and world premieres.

Highlights from International Evenings of Dance, video by Nel Shelby Productions

Tiler Peck, Robbie Fairchild, Daniel Ulbricht and other incredible dancers from New York City Ballet performed in Vail, and it was exciting to see them in new roles, after photographing them this summer at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival.

I photographed the dress rehearsal of Daniel Ulbricht/BALLET 2014 at Jacob’s Pillow like I do every performance, every week. But I also had the rare opportunity to photograph a live performance of BALLET 2014 from the front of the house.

19_20140719_Ballet2014-performance_ChristopherDuggan_040 — BALLET 2014 Performance

I also made portraits with Daniel Ulbricht, Georgina Pazcoguin, Tiler Peck & Robert Fairchild. Tiler & Robbie are beautiful dancers and newlyweds. We made two portraits together on the Pillow grounds, and then we went and did some pictures on my trampoline.

01_20140717_TilerPeck-RobbieFairchild_ChristopherDuggan_110 — Tiler Peck & Robert Fairchild

I know they just got married, and, as a friendly gesture from me to them, I wanted to make a romantic portrait. That’s where that lift came from. An intersection of weddings and dance right there!

06_20140717_TilerPeck-RobbieFairchild_ChristopherDuggan_034 — Tiler Peck & Robert Fairchild

Georgina Pazcoguin found time in her busy dance week to come over and make pictures on the trampoline too. I’ve photographed Gina for American Dance Machine and she is creative and fun. She saw some of my daughter Gracie’s balls in our yard, said we should use them for some of the photos we were making, and it turned into a really great portrait!

02_20140717_GeorginaPazcoguin_ChristopherDuggan_032 — Georgina Pazcoguin

Daniel Ulbricht had an extremely busy week, but we found time for him to come over to our house and make pictures. Our daughter Gracie jumped with Daniel on the trampoline, and our 13-year-old cousin Mary, also a ballet dancer, was just over the moon when Daniel said he would make a picture on the trampoline with her too. It was definitely the highlight of her summer! Daniel is gracious, generous and thoughtful, and we had a great time.

08_20140720_DanielUlbricht_ChristopherDuggan_050 — Daniel Ulbricht and Gracie

Nel and I feel so blessed to work with such mindblowingly talented dancers. We’ve always loved going to the ballet in NYC, and now, high-caliber ballet performances are everywhere we go.

07_20140720_DanielUlbricht_ChristopherDuggan_045 — Daniel Ulbricht and Mary

Christopher Duggan Photography also covers the finest wedding venues in the Metropolitan and Tri-State areas, in Massachusetts and the Berkshires, and frequently travels to destination weddings.

Finis: Trey McIntyre Project’s Farewell At Jacob’s Pillow

August 1, 2014 by 4dancers

by Christopher Duggan

This summer at Jacob’s Pillow marked Trey McIntyre Project‘s last performances as a professional dance company before Trey moves on to other projects. I’ve photographed the dance company before, and I’ve always loved Trey’s choreography.

It just seemed like a very special week, so I thought it’d be great to spend extra time with the company making pictures. I photographed the company in dress rehearsal as I usually do, but I also photographed one performance from backstage and I made portraits with four of the dancers around the Pillow grounds and on my family’s trampoline.

20140626_BrettPerry-BenjaminBehrends-TreyMcIntyre_Christopher.Duggan_017 — Brett Perry and Benjamin Behrends

Each of these four dancers, Benjamin Behrends, Chanel Da Silva, Amber Mayberry and Brett Perry, really gave me time to explore with them. The nature of a dancer’s schedule is that they just don’t usually have a lot of time to spare. So I approach a portrait with an idea that we try to execute and we may be able to try one other thing after that, but then the dancer needs to go.

Chanel and I had two hours together and there were several photos we tried that are not featured here, because we were able to explore more and figure out the best portraits. The same with Amber Mayberry below – she gave me a nice amount of time to have a relaxed approach and create something together.

To be able to create something together is special. We’re both artists, and we want to make something beautiful. I was able to do that with all of them, because they were so generous with their time and excited to work together. When they had their final performance that Sunday afternoon, I snuck in to the Ted Shawn Theatre at the very end to capture their final bows. I wanted them to have this moment forever.

Christopher Duggan Photography also covers the finest wedding venues in the Metropolitan and Tri-State areas, in Massachusetts and the Berkshires, and frequently travels to destination weddings.

Jessica Lang Dance

Martha Graham Dance Company

Michelle Dorrance / Dorrance Dance

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