July 2006

Sally Jacques's forte is site specific work. Her company, Blue Lapis Light sets dance in spaces such as warehouses, bridges, building lobbies, etc. Their latest opus was set in the Intel Building Shell in downtown Austin. The dancers were dwarfed by the immense building, and audience members needed binoculars to see the details of the choreography. Lighting was a challenge for Jason Amato as well. Technically and conceptually, the performance was unique and engaging. For me most elements worked, but a few aspects were difficult to appreciate when action was taking place in multiple areas of the building simultaneously. Photography was a challenge for a variety of reasons - in terms of lighting, spacing, framing, etc. There are lots of interesting possibilities, had I had more opportunities and access to different parts of the building. Photos of the space and performance are ready for viewing in the dance gallery until August 2006.

The first time I saw Don Quixote, it was apparent that it was a skeleton story - with an excuse to dance. The original story seems to have a lot of physiological depth, which I find missing in the ballet. However, from a photographer's prospective, it is a treat - due to its dynamic choreography and small corps work. Houston Ballet's version, choreographed by Ben Stevenson, was the first performance I experienced live. It is the most lavish production I have see (including the three DVD productions). I am sorry, that the contract with Houston Ballet does not permit me to show the photos. But I assure you they were wonderful like the production.

The North American Bengali conference is an annual gathering of people from the state of West Bengal. It was a feast of culture for three days. I went just of enjoy myself. I managed to control my urge to photograph the first two days. But the third day presented too tempting an offer to resist, and I captured six genres over four hours, missing lunch.

The 150 galleries of past productions I have photographed over the past couple of years have been removed from public viewing. But I have consolidated some of the 5000 images into three small galleries by genre. I plan to keep the compilations updates by removing and adding images on an irregular basis. Also new galleries will only be housed for a short time. Expect the number of images from each production to reduce as well. Shows from April will be removed by August.

Guru Bichitrananda Swain's group will be performing in Austin, San Antonio, Dallas/Ft. Worth, and Houston in the end of July and first week of August. They are a wonderful set of dancers with excellent forms and coordination. I was very impressed with the last two times I saw and photographed them. I have posted some images from these shows for a couple of weeks in the gallery titled "Dancers of Rudrakshya" Try and catch them live in your city.

Austin has experienced Thaddeus Davis's choreographic talents in 2005 at Ballet Austin's Director's Choice. He also was the Judge's favorite in the 2006 New American Talent competition. This time, we got to see him dance in a new piece, thanks to Dance Umbrella. The full version of the work will be presented in February 2007. But meanwhile you can view moments from this unique Dance Theatre in the dance gallery.

Coming up: Zilker Theater Production's Summer Musical Extravaganza 7 Brides for 7 Brothers, KDH Dance's And then there were 12, and Austin's Newest Dance Company - American Repertory Ensemble.

Photos from the performances can be seen at insightphotography.smugmug.com/Dance.