jacob’s pillow

A Different Kind Of Dance Team: Nel Shelby & Christopher Duggan

July 6, 2012 by 4dancers

Most of you know Christopher Duggan from his dance photography column here at 4dancers which runs the last day of the month here and is titled “Finis”. What many of you may not know is that Christopher is part of a team–his wife, Nel Shelby–is a dance videographer. Today we thought we’d share a bit more about what life is like for this talented couple in the dance world…

This is Nel’s tenth season at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival. She spent the summer of 2001 as a videography intern and now serves as Festival Videographer, supervising two interns and an apprentice each season. Christopher has been Festival Photographer at the Pillow since 2006. He acts as mentor for an intern during each summer festival, and this year he will participate on the faculty in a 5-day dance photography workshop led by his esteemed colleague Rose Eichenbaum.

Deeply dedicated to the preservation and promotion of dance through documentation of live performances, Nel and Christopher often team up to provide artists with the complete package for their upcoming productions. They enjoy brainstorming with artists from the inception of a work, creating behind the scenes photographs of rehearsal and generating excitement through promos, to the final production, filming performances and providing photography for press and preservation. Based in New York City, they have worked with countless emerging, established, uptown and downtown choreographers, dance venues and presenting festivals.

Both Nel and Christopher had personal relationships with dance prior to filming and photographing the art form. Nel danced from age 2 through 22 and has a bachelor’s degree in dance. She is also a certified Pilates instructor. Movement is an incredibly important part of her routine, and because she feels kinesthetically connected to the performers she films, she finds that most of her choices are instinctual and gracefully-aligned with the choreography. Christopher has developed an aesthetic that seeks to capture the heart and integrity of each choreographer’s voice within an image. He was first attracted to dance when working on the wardrobe crew for performances in college and has felt a magnetic pull from dancers ever since. He played the doundoun in a West African group Magbana and made several trips to West Africa to study drumming and dance.

Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival offers a bustling season for Christopher and Nel because of its vast variety of dance and large quantity of work – each season, their responsibilities include documenting aspects of festival culture in addition to its 20 mainstage dance performances, filming, photographing and overseeing documentation of more than 100 free performances and events, and educating students about the technical and philosophical aspects of photographing and filming dance. But its the festival’s sense of magic that keeps both artists clamoring for more each year. Situated on the beautiful Berkshires hills, nestled in majestic trees and rooted in the history of founder and modern dance visionary Ted Shawn, the Pillow is steeped in tradition but forward-thinking in its worldly and contemporary curation. It’s a place to grow, learn and find inspiration. And for Nel and Christopher, it’s home. They now own a cabin on the same road as the Pillow and cherish the thought that their daughter is growing up at the festival each summer.

4dancers talked with both of them a bit about their lives and their work with one another… [Read more…]

National Museum Of Dance: Art In The Foyer 2012

May 31, 2012 by 4dancers

by Christopher Duggan

05_NMD_IO_2007_Collage Dance Collective_CDuggan_018 — Photo by Christopher Duggan

Last night was the opening of my year-long exhibition at the National Museum of Dance, and it was a really exciting moment in my artistic career–not just because any curation of my work is incredibly flattering, but because the photographs I chose to display all showcase a space that is very dear to me, a place I’d love to share with everyone I meet.

When the museum contacted me and expressed interest in my photographs of performances at Jacob’s Pillow’s Inside/Out, I couldn’t have been happier. The Inside/Out series features a diverse group of outdoor dance performances that are free and open to the public. These performances take place on a large outdoor stage on the festival grounds, and the backdrop offers a panoramic view of the Berkshires Hills—it’s a stunning visual.

Shooting at Inside/Out is very personal for several reasons. It’s my favorite place to shoot dance, it’s the most challenging space I shoot dance, and it’s the place that in a single image encapsulates the feeling you get when you’re on campus at Jacob’s Pillow.

It’s wonderful that my exhibition coincides with Jacob’s Pillow’s 80th anniversary season. The Pillow’s longevity as a vital presenting and educational institution in the dance world is nothing short of extraordinary, and Inside/Out is one of the Pillow’s most celebrated performance series. The dance concerts take place four nights per week during the festival season and a wide range of family-friendly styles are represented. Outdoor dance scenes have been iconic of Jacob’s Pillow since its founding by modern dancer and choreographer Ted Shawn (not surprisingly, a C.V. Whitney Hall of Fame member at the National Museum of Dance), and I’ve always hoped to pay homage to this tradition in my photographs of Inside/Out shows.

Capturing dance at an Inside/Out show is challenging, not only because the light is ever-changing, but also because I’m always looking to showcase the incredible feeling you get when you’re watching dance in that space. I knew I had to find a way to print my photos on a grand scale to get that feeling right. I wanted museum-goers to feel a little part of what it’s like to watch dance underneath huge trees, which are in turn dwarfed by a spectacular sky. In the end, I went with images that were 28×40 or larger, with the biggest photo at 50 inches tall. I hope my exhibition showcases a bit of that live-performance magic.

Some of my dance photography idols have presented work at the National Museum of Dance’s past exhibitions. Examples include Paul Kolnik, who has been shooting New York City Ballet forever, Lois Greenfield, who has photographed everyone (and everyone recognizes her images) and Rose Eichenbaum, who has made such an impact with her photographs and books, not to mention the fact that she has worked with so many important people in the dance world.

I’d love for you to visit my exhibit this year if you get a chance. Better yet, plan a weekend getaway to the Berkshires to see part of Jacob’s Pillow’s 80th anniversary season. The roster includes favorite programs and companies from past festivals–Crystal Pite’s Kidd Pivot in Dark Matters, Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company’s latest work and Doug Elkins and Friends’ Fraulein Maria–as well as companies new to Jacob’s Pillow theaters.

While you’re there, be sure to look for the bald guy with the camera and say hi.

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.

Finis: My Project Idea

January 31, 2012 by 4dancers

by Christopher Duggan

This summer will be Jacob’s Pillow’s 80th Season and my seventh as Festival Photographer. My responsibilities at the Pillow have shifted since my first season. In 2006, I was primarily hired to capture several of the events and make beauty shots of the grounds. I was welcome to shoot dress rehearsals for performances, but they didn’t really need those images.

Now I’m working there to photograph dance, the dress rehearsals for press, the school for documentation, etc. I love it, and I’m always looking to do more and find new ways to contribute.

It’s been a dream of mine to make portraits of the artists and dance portraits of the performers whenever possible, but I’ve been quite timid and shy about this endeavor. Last summer I finally got my foot in the door and asked a couple of the artists to work with me doing some creative portraiture. You can see examples of what we created on my blog: [Read more…]

Finis: A Different Angle

September 30, 2011 by 4dancers

by Christopher Duggan

My job at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival allows me to experiment with different angles and types of shots and practice how these different approaches to dance photography can aid the festival and the company in different ways. When Lar Lubovitch Dance Company performed at the Ted Shawn Theatre, I was able to photograph dress rehearsal from the front of the house as well as performances from backstage.

My front of house photo session was all about getting “the shot” for the press reviewing the dances. In order to get a great shot for press I have a few things on my mind: shoot horizontal, don’t cut off hands or feet or toes, show the choreography, find trios and small groups, look for “signature” moments that showcase the piece.

Backstage, without these constraints, I was able to capture the dances more playfully. I was only feet away from the dancers and so I paid closer attention to the dancers’ facial expressions, catching little momentary exchanges between them and moments of emotional connection with the choreography. The life in the backstage photos makes them a terrific fit for marketing materials. The images are much closer and more intimate, you can see the dancers’ personalities and the hard work that goes into their performance.

You can see more of my photos from front of house vs. backstage on my blog at: http://blog.christopherduggan.com/2011/09/jacob%E2%80%99s-pillow-dance-festival-lar-lubovitch-dance-company/

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 dance photographer, he has worked with renowned choreographers and performers of international acclaim as well as upstarts in the city’s diverse performance scene. Duggan often teams up with his talented wife and Pillow videographer Nel Shelby. A husband and wife dance documentation team, they are equipped to document performances, create and edit marketing videos and choreography reels, and much more. Visit Christopher online at www.christopherduggan.com.

Finis: Triangles & Light

August 31, 2011 by 4dancers

KiddPivot Christopher Duggan — Photo by Christopher Duggan

by Christopher Duggan

This monthly contribution will highlight an image I’ve made or perhaps an image I love by another photographer. I’ll discuss how I made the image, what the purpose of it was, why I love it or maybe some mistakes I made trying to make it. I’m always open to questions, comments and ideas.

Let’s begin with an image I simply love. It’s Crystal Pite’s Kidd Pivot from the company’s performance of Dark Matters this summer at Jacob’s Pillow. I’m drawn to the dramatic light and the triangles. The shadow, the symmetry, the muscles in his legs. It’s a beautiful moment. He looks so still. [Read more…]

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