Joe McNally
I ran across a post by Joe McNally, a well known
photographer, talks about his affinity for dance
photography.
Read it here
I liked this part here best:
"Put a dancer in front of my lens, and Joe be happy
monkey. I feel a real affinity for dancers, actually,
because, just like photographers, they are hard
working, creative and underpaid."
Dance Photography
Dance is something I got sucked into a few years ago
when my daughter started pirouetting her way across
the marley.
She had been talking about it since she could talk
and she was pretty sure of herself. She spent most of
those early years in a tutu or some form of
ballet-related costume. Here is a picture of her at
her two-year old birthday party, appropriately
garbed.
My wife had danced as a child, and was still doing so
when I met her in 1991. I loved picking her up after
her dance classes, although I was much to silly to go
in and actually watch. It took a few more years to
develop a taste for it myself. When we moved to the
Seattle area, my wife went off on a quest to find a
studio that could teach our budding dancer. She
didn't want a
rinky-dink dance studio in the
strip mall
- you know the kind that teach ballet, hip hop, jazz,
clogging and every other dance under the sun - all
with the inherent cuteness, but with mediocrity at
the center. She wanted something more, although the
idea of PNB (the giant gorilla of the area) was a bit
overwhelming. So she stumbled across a small studio
in Bellevue that had an interesting pedigree - a
small studio, very intimate, with an artistic
director who had danced at the Bolshoi (the big
gorilla of the world). It was small, unassuming, and
mostly run by volunteers and people who cared about
dance. And better yet, Viktoria (the artistic
director) was just what we were looking for- someone
with real training and connections that could really
make a difference if Chloe decided dance was for her.
So Chloe started at 4 years of age - on her birthday
no less. I took pictures of her, here and there, but
never was able to get the access or the time to do
more. As Chloe grew, it became more important to her.
Happily, this little ballet studio was really focused
on performances (even if they couldn't publicize them
very well) and Chloe began racking up the stage time.
And solos. She was in heaven. At some point, my wife
approached me about doing a bit more with the studio
(she was on the board of directors by then) and after
some negotiations, I started shooting weekly
sessions. First with my daughter's class and then
with the rest of the classes. It was inspiring,
beautiful and enjoyable. I'm very happy with the
results of that year long project. You can see this
work here:
Well, as you know, things can go awry. Soon after I
stared my project, Viktoria and that little studio
had a schism. Silly stuff really, but it mainly
focused around respect. So she left to form her own
studio. We decided that, while we loved that little
studio, that we really needed to follow Viktoria as
she was able to provide the training Chloe needed. So
we did. And that was the birth of
Emerald Ballet
Theatre.
The new studio has grown over the past year. I've
done a lot of work for them and have enjoyed
myself even more. My work has become an important
part of the studio - from the walls, to the
website, to the posters and advertising. That and
I'm there a fair amount and have gotten to know
many of the dancers. Its great to know these
beautiful girls and see them developing their
talent and at the same time providing a wonderful
little community for my daughter. She loves it and
is up to 8 hours a week. Seriously. We are so
proud of her and her accomplishments. You can see
the work here:
We still miss the old studio. There was some wonderful people there, and it was a sad day for us to leave, but it was the right decision. EBT is growing and I'm loving the work I do in the dance studio. If you have some time, explore the galleries linked to above. Cheers!