Kendra Dennard Dancing

I just saw Kendra Dennard in Pittsburgh the other day which reminded me of this shoot I had shot with her. The other day she had just gotten back from NYC, dancing with August Wilson Center Dance Ensemble on Summerstage. It was said that they had gotten a lot of positive feedback while there.

Kendra Dennard is an alum of Point Park University.

More of my photos can be found on my facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/AaronJackendoffPhotography

So here are a few of the photos from that shoot:

Dance Pillow Project - July Second Saturday

I photographed The Pillow Project at The Space Upstairs (right above Construction Junction in Point Breeze, Pittsburgh, PA). They had their July Second Saturday "The Concept Album"

Check out The Pillow Project's Facebook Page (http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Pillow-Project/88574885865)

The second part called "Luminography" was created by Mike Cooper. He used just a video camera and projector which created an infinite mirror like effect with some delay in it, so it created an after blur of Taylor Knight.

More of my photos can be found on my facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/AaronJackendoffPhotography (album)

Dance Series_Texture Contemporary Ballet

Texture Contemporary Ballet is an up and coming dance group that is originating out of Pittsburgh, PA. It is just in the early stages of it's life and has put together such a great group of dancers. Many of the dancers went to Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre (PBT) for many years of training, and now many of them are off involved with companies such as Nashville Ballet, Ballet Met, Cincinnati Ballet, Bodiography, Columbus Dance Theatre, Ballet Theatre of Maryland, Charlottesville Ballet, American Ballet Theatre and Ballet Austin.

The company members include:
Alan Obuzor - Artistic Director - Choreographer - Dancer
Kelsey Bartman - Choreographer - Dancer
Erin Halloran - Choreographer
Gabriel Gaffney Smith - Music Composer - Choreographer - Dancer
Shannon Biery - Dancer
Alana Gergerich - Dancer
Elysa Hotchkiss - Dancer
Mara Mandradjieff - Dancer
Sarah Obuzor - Dancer
Summer Reed - Dancer
Gabby Thurlow - Dancer
Eva Trapp - Dancer
Ashley Reade Wegman - Dancer
Edward Carr - Dancer
James Gilmer - Dancer

It was really great working with them.

They have their first concert July 8th and 9th, 2011 at the New Hazlett Theatre.

Check out their facebook page for more information: http://www.facebook.com/texturecontemporaryballet

More photos of them can be found on my facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/AaronJackendoffPhotography
(Photo Album)

Katie Schurman_DanceShoot_Pittsburgh

Here is a shoot I did with Katie Schurman a dancer who graduated from Point Park University.

Assistant:
Kaustubh Misra

The cars were rushing by, and since we were shooting from across the street, for most of the shoot we were just shooting between the lights to avoid the cars.  But in the end I decided I really like the movement and implications of the light.

These single dancers, dancing/interacting with themselves in one frame really take some planning, and some warming up to.  By the end we were flying.

Here are a few shots.

Pillow Project Shoot_Beth Retas_Kaylin Horgan

This is a series I photographed for The Pillow Project.
(Pittsburgh, PA)

I worked with Artistic Director of The Pillow Project, Pearlann Porter, Stylist Donovan Wilburn as well as Pillow Project dancers Beth Retas and Kaylin Horgan to create this series.

This was a study on time through light and dance.

The innovative use of projection as shown in this series is part of what placed them in the Top 25 To Watch for 2010 by Dance Magazine:
http://www.dancemagazine.com/issues/January-2010/25-To-Watch

Pearlann Porter

Pearlann Porter transforms dreams into artistry via The Pillow Project, her Pittsburgh-based multimedia hothouse launched in 2004. The focused, articulate choreographer versed in jazz and rhythm tap brainstorms with in-house video and sound designers while working with her improv-savvy dancers. Porter’s daring generates hip, installation-style happenings and socially conscious dance-theater staged in her loft studio. “Every time I think of Pillow Project as a ‘dance company,’ I try to break that mold,” says Porter, who was born in Hollywood and raised in New Jersey.

Porter’s interest in classic rock ’n’ roll inspired the energetic Concept Album Tour (2005), while an obsession with The White Stripes opened doors for the relentless, sexy, and humorous Striped (2006). Last season’s Orwellian Twenty Eighty-Four, a dark, pseudo-mystical journey, combined earthbound movement with ethereal video design. In 2010, Porter delves into perceptions of time in a comic book–style layout in her cerebral, abstract new work Paper Memory. —Karen Dacko

Sebastian Mersch - So You Think You Can Dance Canada

I think it's cool when I've photographed someone in the past and they show up doing something interesting later on.

I photographed Sebastian Mersch back at Point Park University. And I just saw a link to where he was on So You Think You Can Dance Canada.

Here are some photos I've taken of him, followed by a clip from the show.

These photos were taken at Point Park University during a tech of Ahmad Simmons in The Student Choreography Project Show (10-14-08) "Riding Thoughts"







Sebastian Mersch - So You Think You Can Dance Canada

8-8-09 Pillow Project Improv Dance_2nd Saturday

Another exciting Second Saturday at the Pillow Project.

Some dance, some improv and other awesomeness.

7-19-09_MichaelNovak_NatalieLomonte_CourtneySowinski_YiChunWu

7-19-09_MichaelNovak_NatalieLomonte_YiChunWu

Yi-Chun and I shot and assisted each other on this shoot.

Michael Novak came back for another shoot with us, and I had met Natalie Lomonte earlier that day at STREB, as you can see in my previous post. Natalie used to be in Momix, Pilobolus and was currently in Parsons Dance Company at the time of the shoot.

I was finding it quite enthralling to compose the dancer, and use the strobe to place the dancer at the right time.