jacob’s pillow

Returning To Jacob’s Pillow

July 2, 2013 by 4dancers

20130619_IO_JamalJackson_Christopher.Duggan_043 — Jamal Jackson

by Christopher Duggan

I’ve been waiting 10 long months for this.

Every year, I am so excited to return to Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, to photograph amazing dancers and festival life and settle back in to our cozy cabin in the Berkshires. For the past two summers, I’ve been blogging about the week’s dance performances, students at The School and more.

But it’s always the performances on the outdoor Inside/Out stage that I look forward to most. Inside/Out is one of Jacob’s Pillow’s most celebrated series, offering free outdoor dance performances four nights a week during the festival season, with each show set in the lush scenery of the Berkshire hills. It’s a pleasure and an honor to make photographs that reflect the grandeur of the Inside/Out experience – watching dance atop a mountain, under the open sky. Especially since outdoor dance scenes have been iconic of Jacob’s Pillow since its founding. (You’ve seen John Lindquist’s photos of Ted Shawn & His Men Dancers, right?)

That’s why I chose to highlight Inside/Out during my photographic exhibition at the National Museum of Dance last year.

It’s great to be back! Especially since this season offers such a rich mix of companies – many I know and love and many I get to meet and photograph for the first time. This past week’s Inside/Out shows included dancer and choreographer Hari Krishnan. He was in From the Horse’s Mouth last year, and he’s become a friend of mine, so it was just neat to see him and photograph his company inDance.

20130626_IO_DancesforVariablePopulation_Christopher.Duggan_023 — Dances for Variable Population

We had fantastic weather for all the shows, too. See more of this year’s Pillow blog series here.

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.

Christopher Duggan, Photo by Julia Newman

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.

My Life As A Pillow Person

June 21, 2013 by 4dancers

by Ashley David

After a long seven-hour car ride from Maryland, I was tired, nervous and excited all at once, not knowing exactly what to expect from my new press/editorial internship position at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival in Becket, Massachusetts. As I got off of the highway onto Jacob’s Ladder Road, a scenic byway in Western Massachusetts, my heart skipped a beat. Between trees, rolling hills and a beautiful lake, everything I saw out of my car window was green or blue. Having lived in only metropolitan-suburban areas outside of Baltimore, MD or Washington, D.C., the abundance of nature both intrigued and frightened me. As I continued driving on this gorgeous byway, now only 15 minutes away from my destination, I could feel the butterflies in my stomach fluttering around. It wasn’t until I saw this famous sign directing me to turn off the road that it finally felt real—I was in for the summer of a lifetime at the Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival!

As I missed the turn for the parking lot to check in (smooth, I know), I happily stumbled upon a view that I had only seen in pictures or videos, the Jacob’s Pillow Inside/Out Stage.

At this point, I could not contain my excitement any longer. I let out a squeal and performed my own little happy dance before heading back towards check in because at that moment, I felt like I was exactly where I was meant to be.

As a dance and communication-public relations student at the University of Maryland, College Park, arts administration is something that has always been a driving career goal. While it is not necessarily a path that is offered directly, I have found my own way into that world. I love performing and teaching dance as well, but am most focused on finding the intersection between my passion for dance and skill set in public relations. Here at Jacob’s Pillow, I know the tools and resources are endless for me to explore and learn. [Read more…]

Finis: Working Women at The Joyce Theater

February 28, 2013 by 4dancers

by Christopher Duggan

The Joyce Theater’s Working Women performances were so cool, because I know all the talented women involved. I’ve worked with them all before at The Joyce or Gotham Arts or at Jacob’s Pillow. I have histories with them, and working at this dance performance was just like photographing my friends. It was wonderful to see some new work by these inspiring artists and also fun to be around them. What can be better than that?

It was particularly interesting seeing such a variety of work all in one evening. And it was great to see an entire program dedicated to work by female choreographers, since they have historically gone under-represented in the dance world. These women are fierce and their is work cutting edge.

For more photos from the Working Women series, check out my Facebook album from the shows.

Christopher Duggan bio — Christopher Duggan, Photo by Julia Newman

Finis: Artist Portraits in my Natural Light Studio at Jacob’s Pillow

January 31, 2013 by 4dancers

contemporary dance students — Kassandra Cruz and Alonso Guzman

by Christopher Duggan

I had been dreaming for a few seasons about making portraits of the incredible dancers, choreographers and artists that come to the Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival each week. In 2012 I put it into action: the Natural Light Studio.

There is a deck right behind the Ted Shawn Theatre where dance photographer John Lindquist used to make images. I was lucky that the space was available for me to set up a simple but effective natural light soft box and backdrop.

skybetter and associates — Kile Hotchkiss

I made over 200 portraits that summer— between mainstage companies, School participants, faculty, Inside/Out artists, staff, interns, my daughter…

During the 2012 season, I was a faculty member for a dance photography workshop at the festival. The workshop was directed by dance photographer Rose Eichenbaum, and she asked all of us to describe our photography in one word. I thought a lot about it, and the word I chose was joyous. That’s my approach to all of my photography, both dance and weddings. I’m looking to have fun and see the joy inside of people. That doesn’t mean I want big cheesy smiles—I want to capture the joy created by being who you are.

joffrey ballet — Victoria Jaiani and Temur Suluashvili

I wanted every person I invited into the studio to have the space to emerge, to really be seen for who they are. In the spirit of the Pillow, in the spirit of creativity, in the spirit of collaboration, and in the spirit of making art together.

101_20120825_DougElkinsandFriends_Christopher.Duggan_054 — Doug Elkins & Friends

Other people have picked up on the fact that I always say let’s “make” pictures. I don’t “take” pictures. It’s semantics, but it’s true—when I work with dancers, choreographers, brides, friends…we “make” something together. And that’s what I felt like I achieved this summer in my Natural Light Studio. Whether dancing or more pedestrian, I was approaching the sessions in the same way, and different people brought different things to the table.

I’d say the summer was a success. And I can’t wait to expand on the project this season.

The Echos Of Iconic Dance Imagery

September 30, 2012 by 4dancers

by Christopher Duggan

It’s Jacob’s Pillow‘s 80th anniversary, and if you’ve had the chance to visit the Pillow, you’ll know that every year Norton Owen creates a beautiful exhibit in Blake’s Barn. This summer’s exhibit is the Decades of Dance and features photographs spanning the festival’s 80 years. I’ve always been inspired by these historic photographs on the Pillow grounds, and this summer I decided to create a personal project surrounding some of my favorite iconic images.

When The Horse’s Mouth program was presented this summer, taking advantage of the connection to Ted Shawn’s Men Dancers was a no-brainer. We were trying to do something interesting with the group to showcase that Ted Shawn was a pioneer for male performers. We recreated the famous photo of the Men Dancers in their bathrobes.

I wanted to recreate in the spirit of the original image and then we made another photo, because I wanted to give it my own spin with the creativity of the dancers.

That photo shoot got my juices going. I had always loved an iconic image of Ruth St. Denis from 1950 in this beautiful dress. When I saw Jessica Lang’s dance with the white dress by Elena Comendador, I thought “Oh my God, I wonder if she’ll be willing…”

The third and final “Then & Now” from this summer is tribute to a gorgeous picture by John Lindquist of a dancer on the Ted Shawn Theater with the doors open (a lot of people think it was taken on Inside/Out, but this was before the outdoor stage existed).

When I found out that The Joffrey Ballet was going to be in the Ted Shawn Theater and the company planned to open the back barn doors for one of their dances, I was overjoyed. I’ve been waiting for six weeks to make that picture. I was just getting in my mind how I’d execute the photo and things started to unravel. The Joffrey didn’t open the doors because it was too cold, and there were several floor lights on the edge of the stage that would alter the shot. There were so many factors that would make it difficult to recreate the photo that I gave up on the idea. But while the dance photography workshop was going on, I was walking by the theater, and they had just finished company class. I went on stage and showed the photo to one of the dancers on my iPhone, and we went for it.

If you visit Jacob’s Pillow, you’ll notice that every room in every building on campus has photographs on the wall. It’s so obvious that photographs are our window into the past, the living legacy of the festival. I honor that, I’m intimidated by that, and I’m proud of that. This was a way to connect to the past and to leave my own mark.

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