First Friday Window Installation Launch Party!!!

We are so excited to announce, that in a occasion of pure serendipity, we will be featuring empoweredME as a month long window installation at the Phoenix Village Arts Center,207 Bridge St, Phoenixville!

There is no better excuse to have a party than this, right?!! So we are going to lump in First Friday as part of our shindig! The event will run from 6-9pm on March 2nd at the studio of Brian Mengini, 209 Bridge St Phoenixville.

The reception will include music, light refreshments, you can view the window installation ANNNNNDDDD…. wait for it… you can have your own FREE empoweredME portrait taken. You do not need to be a dancer for this, you just need to want to take a stand against cancer and show it you are empowered!

As we were planning this event, which kinda fell in our lap yesterday, we thought… Hmmm, well we will be offering refreshments, why not sell some lemonade and raise some monies for Alexs Lemonade Stand? Makes sense, right? I mean people drink at receptions, lemonade is tasty. So that is what we will do! We will use this as an opportunity to do even more good!

What an amazing night this will be!!! Please make sure you go and bring ALL of your friends!!

2011 Year in Review

Well, this was quite a daunting task… recapping all that happened in the last year. Hope I don’t leave anything out. To say the least, this was a banner year for me. I took on many new clients, both locally and out of state, many of whom have become friends. I launched a few new projects which is always exciting! We launched 2 successful Kickstarter campaigns, one of which took me to London, where I created wonderful imagery and made wonderful new friendships! I also became internationally published this year – 3 different countries outside of the US, actually! I did extensive traveling within the states, which is always exciting and fun. I am going to do a month by month recap. I had several guest postings on the Ballet Bag. I will do my best to be inclusive but I am going off the top of my head and some light tracking on FB, since this is a last minute idea.

January
January brought me some new clients and new work. I shot Jeanette who is now a trainee with San Francisco Ballet, for Tutu.Com. I also had a shoot with Pamela H who is a tap friend of mine. That same day, I shot the Harnett sisters, Genna and Alex. Genna is finishing up school and Alex is now an apprentice with Ballet Arizona. They were in for audition shots. January also took me down to Tampa to shoot Gaspar, the pirate ballet. This month also marked the birth and launch of Hope Dances, my dance outreach program for special needs kids. Last but not least, I worked with a new company. Well it was new to me, Delaware Contemporary Dance Theatre.

February
This month brought me back to South Jersey to work for Dance Factory. I have shot for them for the last few years. Always a fun day and I love Stacey, the director. She is the best! Hope Dances was involved in the first ever Tap Teaser on Tour, which was really exciting. I photographed, Tapas, for Ballet Fleming, of which I am now a steering committee member and their company photographer. In a very ironic twist of fate, I became the back up or plan b to Lois Greenfield who was supposed to do shots for Dance4Life dance school. Things fell through and Ms Chauntee called me and asked if I was available. Fortunately I was. What a fun night that was! That group is just plain ole CRAY CRAY!

March
This was a neat month. I had a few in studio for fun, personal things. I also shot Belfast Connection for their promo content. This was a blast. They are always a hoot and brought in a wee taste of whiskey to help jump start the shoot. I also had in, Isabelle Seiler, who is currently training at JKO school in NYC. I shot a bunch of live Irish bands including Blackthorn and Drop Kick Murphys. DKM was really fun as I went backstage and interviewed Tim Brennan who plays accordian and banjo for the band! I also went up to Boston to shoot Boston Ballet’s rehearsal for ELO Experience. Also, I worked on some personal projects with some of the dancers. I always love going up there!!

April
April brought me to Baltimore to photograph the rehearsals for Rasta Thomas’ Tap Stars as well as headshots for the cast. I also begun shooting for the Inspirational Irish Women nominees. This is a yearly event where a committee votes on and nominates xx number of women who they feel are exceptionally inspirational in the Irish community. Last year they had a painter create the portraits which were done in an abstract method. This year, I was fortunate enough to have been commissioned to create them! On Easter, I had the fun opportunity to travel to NYC to photograph Avi Scher and Dancers, which included Carla Korbes and Seth Orza of Pacfic Northwest Ballet. Barre Boys had their event, Happy Hour which featured an exhibit as well as an hour long performance of men in dance!

May
May is always busy for me. I work with 3 different local dance studios for photo day in May. In addition to that, I did a promo shoot for Too Darn Hot – an all female tap revue. Inspirational Irish Women had their event including the exhibit of my portraits. I photographed a performance on top of the Intrepid battleship. One of the biggest things for me this month was to shoot the first edition of the Boston IBC. What a wonderful opportunity this was! My images from this got some serious action in the press. One of them was in the May or June issue of Auditorium magazine from South Korea.

June
Ah June… mark of summer! This was a pretty active month for me. I had the opportunity to work with a young dancer from the Rock School, Alston MacGill. We had our first ever Dance for Dreams Gala for Hope Dances. Barre Boys celebrated its 1st birthday. I did a shoot with Allie Parsons who was wearing Margot Fonteyn’s original tutu from the birthday offering! I also had shoots with Holly Curran from Ballet Fleming, Kat Richter and Abi Kurdin. I traveled to DC to shoot with Sona from The Washington Ballet, her husband and father as well as with Septime Webre, Artist Director for TWB. I also flew to Tampa for the better part of a week to shoot a ballroom competition. Well, I was the personal photographer for one of the competitors. While there, I met with and shot a dancer from Orlando Ballet as well as Peter Stark.

July
Well, I must be honest. By now, I am deathly tired of planes and airports. I mean seriously. lol. July doesn’t seem to have been as busy. At least according to my calendars as I am going back. In July, I spent probably about 4-5 days in Savannah, George to shoot for DTI, dance competition. My first day down there, I drove to Hilton Head Island where I met and had the chance to work with Angie and Mollie Sansone. Angie dances with Kansas City Ballet and Mollie for Nashville. We did a shoot on a plantation down there. That was really really fun!! The day after I returned home, I had the chance to shoot a dear friend’s wedding. Lisa and I have been friends for a few years – I found her on craigslist. I love her to death. So, it was an emotional day for me. Also this month, I was published in UK’s Dancing Times and Philippines’ Town and Country magazine! I also had the pleasure of working with a set of ballerina twins who happened to have the same disorder my son was diagnosed with. The family and I are dear friends.

August
Now we are talking!! August, aside from being my birthday month, was epic!!! In August, I flew to London for a week. Wow oh wow was this an amazing trip!! I flew out of Philly Intl and into Heathrow. It was an overnight flight going in. I will include my blog which has a daily log for the trip. But, to summarize it, I spent a week in London that was fully funded by my generous supporters. While there, I met with the girls from the Ballet Bag, shot dancers from Royal Ballet, English National Ballet and Hamburg Ballet, saw Mariinsky do Don Q, SHOT Mariinsky’s dress of Robbins/Balanchine Triple Bill, shot Mariinsky principal dancer Igor Kolb on the rooftop of the ROH. Doesn’t get more epic than that!

That was the very beginning of the month. At the very end of it, I traveled to Salt Lake City to lend my services for a fundraiser to benefit a young lady with stage 4 terminal cancer. This trip left me a changed man as well as making some new life long friends! This trip also inspired my new series, empoweredME. What a great way to spend my birthday.

I think one of the headshots I did for the new director of the dance department at Boston Conservatory was in Dance Teacher this month.

September
September was unfortunately quiet for me. We had a Hope Dances-9/11 event which was wonderful. I also had an image from RHPM in the NYTimes Sunday calendar section as well as a 6 page spread in Dance Studio Life with my BIBC images AND a 2 page spread as an ad for DTI. That same RHPM image appeared in Connecticut Magazine either this month or October. I had the pleasure this month of photographing Allenda Witzel, a young ballerina who was studying at Kirov in DC. We had mutual friends at CPYB. Since then, I have remained in touch and friends with her mother.

October
I finally got my mojo back and the phone was ringing like crazy. One of my images was featured on the cover of SI Focus magazine, which is a magazine for those dealing with Sensory Processing Disorder. I had wrote an article for the magazine for this month. One of my images from the ASH Workshop was in Dance Teacher Magazine. I celebrated my second year at the studio (or was it 3?). I picked up a new client, United Dance Merchants of America and shot their Jersey show! We also launched the Portraits of a Disorder exhibit, featuring images of children diagnosed with SPD. At the beginning of the month we had a Barre Boys exhibit at the Performance Garage. I did work for a new client, Jovo Dance, which was great. I love them! Also did some family portraits for the Kurdins. In October, we did a SLEW of shoots for empoweredME! I also was in NY shooting for that and for Tutu.Com including a few shots at the Occupy Wall Street scene. In October I also did the new promo shots for Ballet Fleming. This is always fun as is the theme – FUN. No, that is the theme they go for… fun!

November
This was a great month!!! I started the month by shooting BalletX rehearsal for a piece for the Ballet Bag. I had a small exhibit at the Dance for Dimes event at Widener. I interviewed Pennsylvania Ballet’s Artistic Director, Roy Kaiser for Barre Boys and photographed him at their new property on the Avenue of the Arts. I did a promo shoot for Renaissance Academy’s Nutcracker. Some more empoweredME shoots. I did Chesco’s dance team shots again as well as a new client from the Rock School, Isabel Montague. Ursinus College and PDP brought me back to shoot shows then flew up to Boston to shoot for Boston Conservatory. Some of the dancers needed shots, so the director brought me up. While there, I made some new friends. I had a mini shoot with Amanda who is in Boston Ballet’s school. She wanted images for a Christmas card. I also did a shoot for Alex Heier who is also a student at Boston Ballet and her mom is on their board. What a wonderful family!!! My dear friends, the Ramsay family played host to me as well as chauffeur! This was one of the few times where I was actually sad to be leaving. What an amazing weekend!!!

In my studio, I had a male ballet dancer who is studying at Butler. This was a nice treat. Most of my commissioned work for audition shots are from ballerinas. He was a lot of fun and very open to things!

I also had two of the dancers from the NY Knicks in for headshots. I had shot one of the girls’ sisters a year ago for dance shots. This was a fun session. They were a blast to work with!

Black Friday, I made an impromptu trip to NYC to shoot THE Misty Copeland for empoweredME. What an AMAZING experience that was!!! She was a delight to work with (duh) and seemed to be really happy with the images. They were simple yet powerful! Although I had told my wife that I was free that day to do family things, I simply could not pass on this opportunity. We still got to go to the movies when I got back.

3 days later, I found myself back up in the big apple for a shoot with Jon & Abi Stafford of NYCB for a piece I was doing on brothers and sisters who dance in the same company, for the Ballet Bag. Before my shoot with them, I had lined up a mini shoot and interview with Oliver Swan-Jackson who dances for Suzanne Farrell Ballet, for Barre Boys. He was a lot of fun and a nice guy!

December
This December was much easier then last. I only shot 3 Nutcrackers and they were all within 30 mins of my house which is nice. I launched my very fist coffee table book which was for empoweredME. Artistically, I knocked off one of the things on my bucket list – maternity shoot en pointe! I actually did two! One was with Fang from Koresh Dance and her hubby Tommy Gant who is also a ballet dancer. The second was with Pennsylvania Ballet Soloist, Gabriella Yudenich. Some of my images from CPYB’s Nutcracker last year saw some life this month. One of my snow scenes were part of a 2 page spread in the local paper in Carlisle plus the cover of 717 mag.

DCDT company stopped by the studio for an off the wall shoot. They are always a hoot, esp Ms Chauntee! Project Moshen was in the studio for some new promo shots. That was a lot of fun! I have been friends with Kelli Moshen on FB for a few years now, so it was also nice to meet her!

The last few shoots I had, yielded some of the best images I have created all year. One of my favorites was with Sara Rodriguez from University of Utah. We grabbed 3 different looks in one shoot. So so so awesome! I love her!!! I also had a visit from Lisa Fitzgerald from Exit 12. She was a blast! I ended my work year with a shoot with Simon Hoke, a young budding cavalier who is studying at CPYB.

So, this is 2011 in a nutshell. There are a lot of shoots that took place that did not get mentioned and I enjoyed every one of them! This was a banner year to say the very least! The good thing about doing this is it gives me clear picture of what I did so I can set new goals for 2012! THAT is exciting!

I am taking holiday from Dec 23-Jan 3 to spend time with my family and decompress. When I come back, we will have a new website within days and exciting new content to release!!!

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year to you all! Thank you so much for your support, I love you!!!

Gabriella Yudenich – Pennsylvania Ballet Soloist – Maternity

It had been a long desire of mine to do a maternity shoot on pointe. Ballerinas are beautiful. They are graceful and elegant. An expecting mother is also beautiful. She may not feel that way most of the time, but to be with child is an amazing thing. “Mothers to be” possess a certain glow. They are part of a miraculous process. They are creating life. You look at a pregnant mother and you can’t help but smile. Well, at least if you are already a parent, you can’t. You know how much joy their life will be full of as a result of this spirit they are carrying. Plus, the time leading up to the birth is such a fun and exciting time for them and the family, apart from pains, discomfort, morning sickness and odd cravings.

Sorry, I think I went on a rant there. Anyway, because of the above stated things, there is a joy in maternity shoots. It allows the mother to have this life changing period of time documented. I always felt that maternity on pointe would make for some dynamic photos. One thing that didn’t really dawn on me until talking to Gabby at this shoot was just how special it is to capture a dancer’s maternity period DURING her career.

I had just completed my first en pointe maternity shoot with Fang from Koresh Dance Company when I approached Gabby about doing one. We had talked before about working together. However, it can be a daunting tasking trying to schedule around a professional dancer’s schedule. Throw in that dancer being pregnant and boy oh boy, good luck Charlie! So, it was a pleasant surprise almost when she agreed to the shoot and we kept up on communication!

Going into the shoot, I had really little communication or encounters with Gabby. We had never met and only communicated on Facebook a small handful of times. So, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I had always heard such wonderful things about her. However, with little exchange with her myself, I really could not get any kind of read. I mean she was always pleasant when I did correspond with her.

So, we compared schedules and set up our date and time which happened relatively easily. I think with her being in her third trimester and not actively dancing, just doing a party parent in Nutcracker, it makes it easier. I will take it!

The day of the shoot came and I arrived to the studio early to set up and prepare physically and mentally as I always do. Ok. As I always try to do and sometimes actually do. Also, as normal, when I have morning shoots, I usually run to the coffee shop down the corner from the studio for some java to keep me up. This day was no different. However, as I was turning around to walk out of the shop, I saw a woman flash (speed, not the other way. get your mind out of the gutter) by with a bag in her hand. Although she seemed to be keeping a faster pace then I would anticipate someone who is pregnant, she had the look or blur of a dancer. Sure enough, it was her!

We greeted and hustled up into the studio to start chatting and begin work. I was really caught off guard by how bubbly and almost silly she was. She was very fun – light, bubbly and always laughing. This was SOOOO cool! It put me at ease straight away and allowed us to really sync from go. That ALWAYS helps the sessions. If you can connect and develop some kind of chemistry right off the bat, it will prove to be a fruitful session!

Let me also say that Gabby is drop dead gorgeous. Just stunning.

Gabby comes from a storied ballet family! Both of her parents were principal dancers for Pennsylvania Ballet. Her mother, Barbara Sandonato, was the first dancer hired for Pennsylvania Ballet when it formed in 1962 and remained with them until 1977 with the exception of one year spent with National Ballet of Canada where she performed with Rudolf Nureyev. Her father, the late Alexei Yudenich, joined PAB as a principal in 1964 until he left in 1972 to join National Ballet of Canada as a principal. Her parents also won bronze in the 5th IBC in Varna.

She herself met her husband in dance, in school actually at the School of American Ballet, the same school her mother attended. They then reconnected while at work for Pennsylvania Ballet, marrying in 2006. Her husband has since retired and joined the corporate world post-college.

I am so grateful I had the opportunity to work with her and really happy it was for this shoot. It is always nice to be a part of something special and this was just that! Here are some teasers from our shoot. Hope you enjoy!!!

B

EmpoweredME Update 12/3

Well…

The day has come! We have a major announcement regarding EmpoweredME. However, before we get to that, check out this behind the scenes compilation of all of our behind the scenes videos from EmpoweredME sessions!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PY9zmBgKA-8&feature=mr_meh&list=UUFipoBsBWx1IGwW5gSbBdVg&lf=plcp&playnext=0

Ok… now… the announcement you have ALL been waiting for…
Our long awaited, much anticipated (boy do I sound like Don King, huh?) coffee table book is NOW ON SALE!!!!!!!

Yes, it is finished! 74 pages, full color and all the trimmings! This unique and extravagant piece of artwork features dancers from Philly, Boston, New York, New Jersey, Maryland and beyond! There is an introduction by me about the project as well as a touching note from one of the dancers, Kira, who is a cancer survivor herself!

You can purchase it in soft, hard cover and hard cover with image wrap. These are shipped directly from the publisher – I do not have inventory.

To get yours, just follow the link below!

http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/2746607

Oh, and we have a BOMBSHELL announcement being made within the next two weeks!!! STAY TUNED!!!

~Adrianna

Adrianna de Svatich currently dances for Ballet Fleming. I have known Adrianna for about 2 years now. We met when she was dancing with Pennsylvania Ballet. At the time, I was working on a project to raise awareness for the fallen police officers of Philadelphia. So, I had brought her in for that as well as a shoot for Tutu.com.

Here are some of those images:
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=318632742824&set=a.318632362824.146012.201276982824&type=3&theater

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=305180722292&set=a.300751307292.145157.256421562292&type=3&theater

Months later, I created a series, Wallflowers, which is a play on words. The premise was that I would shoot these beautiful ballerinas (flowers) against my wall in the studio. For this, I had her and Molly Flippen, who at the time danced with her in PAB, shoot with me for it.

Here is a shot of her from that series:

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=392029547292&set=a.385496922292.166923.256421562292&type=3&theater

Here is the behind the scenes video of that shoot:

Fast forward… This season, Adrianna went to dance for Ballet Fleming, which I am on the Board of as well as being company photographer. I was really happy when I heard this. I always loved her. She was always sweet and happy and a joy to work with.

So, after a company shoot with Ballet Fleming, I asked Adrianna to come back into my studio and work with me on a couple of projects.

Here is a shot of her from the Ballet Fleming shoot:

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150354138257293&set=a.10150354028957293.350169.256421562292&type=3&theater

For our shoot, I wanted to include her on my EmpoweredME series plus my BalletsFemme series. So we did and grabbed a few fun, non project themed, shots.

Here is a teaser:

Ballets Femme ~ Alex

Sometimes as I am working, a name or title will come to me. Ideas will simply pop in my head. Sadly, there is no shut down mode for me except when I am asleep. When a title comes to me, I think about what the project would look like.

One day, the title, Ballets Femme came to me and I sat there and wondered what on earth this would look like. At the same time, I recalled a friend who said that I should do a book on Barre Boys and have it be a part of a Duet with a female counterpart. So after thinking about it some, I decided that this series will be an edgier series then I usually do.

Ballets Femme will showcase the strength, power and beauty of the ballerina but it a much less flowery way. I don’t even think you will see a single tutu. This will be very dark and edgy? lol It will not be fairytale like or princessy. My hope with this is to also challenge myself artistically and get away from my standard high key lighting set up. I want this to be a relatively new angle for me.

So, as I am thinking about this project and who to shoot for it, I immediately thought of my friend, Alex, who dances with Ballet Arizona now. She stuck out immediately due to her physique, her legs especially. She has an amazing presence when I shoot her. Her legs, however, are amazing. Gosh that sounded creepy. lol. No but, when I shoot dancers, one of the things that makes the most impact and can elevate the intensity of an image is their muscle tone. You can see this in Alex’s legs. There is an energy through them and you can see that tone when she poses, almost like she is flexing them.

Herein, lied the problem. Alex now dances for Ballet Arizona. Arizona is not in Pennsylvania and is in fact in the southwestern part of the country, not the midwest like I thought lol. Ugh. The one person who I knew off the bat had to be part of this was not available. Well kiddies, the game changer took place when I was on Facebook last week and saw on my feed something about her coming home. I immediately messaged her on Fb and sent a text. I had to have her in studio while she was home. I was just hoping she would have time!

Since my first shoot with her and her sister, Genna, I developed a friendship with the family. Well, I haven’t met the dad yet but I think he would like me too. I grew fond of Alex and there was an energy we shared when working together. I shot her during her run at BIBC then did some fun location work in the streets of Boston. I have always tried to be as supportive of her and her career as possible and they have done likewise. I am really honored to call them friends and just am so excited to watch her career blossom!

Anyway, so I got her in for a couple of hours and I tried some new lighting on a gray drop and the results are just wonderful!!! So excited to try more out! Below are a few of her favorites from the shoot! Hope you enjoy!!!

B

Empowered Me Update 10/28/11

Wow! What a wonderful response we continue to get on this series! So amazing to be able to create art and affect people deeply and emotionally with it. I mean, that is what we strive to do as artists, create meaningful work. For me, I love to create beautiful, elegant art but also love to create content that stirs the emotions, moves you, leaves you feeling something. Empowered ME did that. Lucky is he who can achieve this! It is in this spirit that I have an announcement to make…

I am excited to inform you that we are moving into the next phase with this project! We will be transitioning out of shooting new work and delving into exhibits of what we have created! The end of November will mark the end of new shoots for Empowered ME. When I took this project on, I knew I wanted to do it for a definitive period of time, so I could get these ideas out of my head and onto dancers. I did not want to take on a new long term project which happens easily to me because of how excited and passionate I am about what I do. Artistically speaking, I want to ensure I am putting out content that I am proud and excited about and to make sure the work is original. I fear that if we continue, this will falter. So, to make sure we leave a lasting impression, we are going to stop “while on top.” We do have a few more shoots lined up for November and tons of unreleased images to present, so you will continue to see new images for a few months yet, I think!

As I said, its a new phase. We are now working to exhibit these prints. Our first showing will be in January of 2012 as part of Koresh’s Artistic Showcase in Center City Philadelphia. In addition, we are looking at other venues to exhibit the work, including cancer treatment centers. This is an exciting part of the process for me! This will bring a reality or tangibility of these images to people, which is just wonderful! Digital images can certainly move you, but seeing a print in front of your face offers you a connection, a realness, that you don’t get online. Hopefully, these brave families will see these images and feel a sense of hope or strength. Hopefully it will give them some sort of positive feeling.

I hope you all will stay with us on this journey and continue to support our efforts and images. We will still have updates and events, so fear not!

Thanks!!

Empowered ME Update ~ 10/21/11

So, we have had a couple more shoots for this project since my last blog entry and we have a few more signed on. This project is taking on a whole new life – moreso than what I thought it would or even planned. However, being an artist and liking things to happen organically, I am not standing in the way of this momentum.

Over the new few weeks and months, we will be sharing more exciting news as things firm up including some big names in dance who will be participating as well as info on showings! Ah, but we must wait for that news.

BUT… I do have SOME exciting news to share with you NOW! Just in time for Christmas, we are releasing images in print form!! These special prints are 8×8 Square Metallic prints. These prints will sell for only $15, plus shipping/handling! We have listed some samples below so you can see what they will look like. Each will have a small border and will bear the Empowered ME text on them. EVERY image you see listed on our galleries can be ordered in print. Larger sizes are available (10×10, etc). You can even get them as gallery wrapped canvas!!!

We also have a brand new behind the scenes video featuring, Kira, who is depicted in that last photo and who also is a dancer with cancer! This video gives you some insight as to how and why she got involved with this project and some footage of us in action… well, here in action!

Here is the video:

Lastly, but certainly not least, we have our very first sponsor for this project! Tutu.Com will be sponsoring us through some leos and tutus for the project! We get our first one today for a childhood cancer shoot this weekend!!!

Please check out their Facebook page below!!

http://www.facebook.com/pages/TutuCom/54783047781

Our Facebook album:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150312905957293.341592.256421562292&type=3

Empowered ME ~ Update ~ October 14, 2011

Hey all! Well, it’s been just under two weeks since we did our first shoot for Empowered ME! In a short period of time, we have received an overwhelming response to the project and the images. Dancers have since started to seek me out, asking to be a part of it. Such a humbling experience!! Some fun numbers below

* Our first posted image below, received 55 likes and 43 comments.

* My blog (as of the time I am typing this) for the week has almost 1,200 hits.

* We have done 6 shoots with a total of 10 dancers.

* Most of the shoots have taken place in my studio but one happened at Battery Park in NYC.

* Dancers have been in town from PA, NYC, NJ and SLC, Utah!

* Today’s dancer, Kira, has cancer.

Our first shoot was with Jane Koorts of Ballet Fleming. She was a lot of fun and really set the tone for the series.

Next was Jennifer Gordon a ballet teacher and student in South Jersey. Jen used to dance with Atlantic City Ballet. She is a married mom and takes class at Camden County Community College. Her teacher is my good friend, Erin Royston, who also happens to be one of my models for the shoot after Jens! Jen also teaches at a local studio.

The last shoot for the week was with Mindy, Jeanie, Erin and Laura. Mindy and I have been friends for a year or so now. She came in for shots and we just hit it off. She teaches locally, performs and does choreo. Jeanie and I have been friends for 3 or 4 years now. She was a dance major at Uarts and one of my first guinea pigs there. We have remained friends and have worked together several times since. Erin and I have been friends for about 2 or 3 years. She came to me for some shots and we have been close ever since. She is a dear friend to me. Last but not least is Laura. This was the first time I ever met her face to face. We knew each other from Twitter and Facebook. Laura, originally from Bucks County, is a NYC based freelance dancer and also writer for Dance Informa magazine.

Over the weekend, I traveled to NY for work and hooked up with my friends Jere & Mary for a shoot in Battery Park. Jere dances for Rioult Dance Company and also works at the Joyce. Mary is a busy worker bee and has been delving into yoga pretty hard core!

Wednesday, I had the pleasure to work with Sara Rodriguez. Sara is a young dancer originally from NJ who is currently in the ballet program at the University of Utah with hopes of joining Ballet West’s training program.

My final shoot thus far was with Kira. Kira is a friend of Jane, our first model. Kira also has cancer. She approached me on Facebook shortly after I posted the first images of Jane. Aside from the reality of her situation and the project, she was just a delight to work with! She was a lot of fun and took direction well!

I am really happy I got the chance to work with these amazing artists and equally happy the bonds that were created as a result of this project. Exciting, huh?!! Currently, have a couple more scheduled and plenty of ideas and still looking for more dancers. Soon, you will also be reading some guest blogs from some of those involved in the project (other then me). Of course we will continue to bring you behind the scenes footage from the shoots. Below are some pics of me and the dancers from the project so far. At the very end is a special little treat!!

Enjoy!

Me & Jane

Me, Mindy, Jeanie, Erin & Laura

Mary, Me & Jere – Battery Park

Me & Kira

Newest behind the scenes video with Sara Rodriguez from University of Utah, Ballet Department:

Ballet Fleming’s Jane Koorts

I met Jane when I first started to work with Ballet Fleming. She is one of their dancers and is involved with their affiliate school, Philadelphia Ballet School.

As is the case with most co-workers, you become closer and get to know each more over time. Jane and I really hit it off. I would hang around the office while she was doing admin stuff and we’d just shoot the bull. Jane was very helpful in my planning my trip to London as she lived there for years. This was just another topic that we’d get excited to chat about.

In June, we had our dance for dreams gala. With the gala, there was a silent auction table. Jane was the winner of the custom made Black Swan tutu from Tutu.com. With this, she also got a free photo shoot. I had shot Jane in class, rehearsal and on stage but never any studio work, so I was really excited to work with her. She was also the second Ballet Fleming dancer to win a shoot with me which was nice.

We finally set a date to shoot and both were very excited. It had been a long time since she had done a shoot so she was excited for that as well. As we were leading up to the shoot, I approached her about participating in my Empowered ME project, which she was excited about. I was excited to get her in the studio to help me get out of a funk. I needed to get in the studio and be me. I needed to create amazing content. I needed to be inspired.

The shoot was amazing as I expected it would be. We chatted, we danced. Ok, well she danced. I LOVE the connection I have with my dancers. I love just chatting as we work. During the course of the shoot, we did about 4 wardrobes or so plus the cancer series. We also took a mini break and I filled her in on my London trip.

I had so much fun with Jane. We created some amazing images. We talked. We laughed. We even did some cool new self portraits of me. What I did not anticipate was how impactful and powerful the Empowered ME images we created would be. They really set the tone for the project.

Here are some teasers from our shoot. Enjoy!