Apr
17
Continued….
IUBT performs “The Sleeping Beauty” Act I
It is Princess Aurora’s sixteenth birthday. Celebrations are already underway: the atmosphere is festive, made complete with a waltz danced by the villagers with garlands. Aurora receives her four royal suitors and their gifts of exquisite roses. Soon after, Aurora is presented with a spindle as a gift from a disguised Carabosse—an object which she has never before seen. Carelessly, she dances with it despite her mother and father’s warnings before accidentally pricking herself. She faints. To the horror of all, Carabosse immediately reveals her true wicked self triumphantly, vanishing before the princes can vanquish her. At that very moment, the Lilac Fairy appears as she had promised. She reminds the remaining guests and the King and Queen of her gift—Aurora will not die, but merely sleep. She then casts a spell of slumber upon the entire kingdom so that they will only awake when Aurora does.
Princess Aurora
Aurora’s 16th birthday celebration
One of the royal suitors
Aurora and her royal suitors
Lucky girl! Here’s another handsome bloke.
more fairies? not sure who they are.
Carabosse in disguise.
Aurora pricks her finger on the spindle and falls into a deep sleep.
Aurora sleeps for 100 years.
The Lilac Fairy puts the kingdom to sleep.
Next – Act II – stay tuned!
Mar
31
… as performed by Indiana University Ballet Theater
http://music.indiana.edu/events/program.php?eid=10319
Prologue – Aurora’s Christening Ceremony
King Florestan the XXIVth declares a grand christening ceremony to be held in honor of the birth of his daughter, Princess Aurora named after the dawn. An entourage of six fairies are invited to the Christening to be godmothers to the child. They are the Candide Fairy, the Coulante Fairy, the Miettes Fairy, the Canari Fairy, the Violente Fairy and—most importantly—the Lilac Fairy, who is the last to arrive. As the fairies are happily granting gifts of honesty, grace, prosperity, song and generosity, they are suddenly interrupted by the arrival of the wicked fairy Carabosse, who is furious at the King’s failure to invite her to the ceremony. The King and Queen begin to remonstrate, and the Master of Ceremonies, Catallabutte, intervenes to take responsibility, whereupon Carabosse rips off his eyebrows and wig, laughing. With spite and rage, Carabosse declares her curse on Princess Aurora: she will prick her finger on her sixteenth birthday and die. But all is not lost: the Lilac Fairy, fortunately, has not yet granted her gift to the Princess. She acknowledges that Carabosse’s power is immense and she cannot completely reverse the curse. However, she declares, though the Princess shall indeed prick her finger, she will not die, but instead sleep for 100 years until she is awakened by the kiss of a prince.
Fairies greeting the King and Queen
Cavalier Fairy (my son)
Lilac Fairy’s attendants
Carabosse ripping off Catalabutte’s eyvebrows (ouch!)
Angry Carabosse as the other fairies look on
The Lilac Fairy and Carabosse
Good will prevail!
Carabosse leaves in a huff.
The fairies couldn’t be happier!
Stay tuned for next blog post – Act I
Mar
09
I do so much enjoy photographing dance. Especially the Boulder Ballet. This weekend they are putting on “Alice In Wonderland.” Last night I went to the dress rehearsal and, although I was looking through my tiny viewfinder the entire time, I loved the show. I remember seeing it about 5 years ago and, from what I recollect, it appears that the choreography for this year’s production is almost entirely new. And wonderful and even better than the first version (which my son was in as The Mad Hatter). So, bravo to Ana, the choreographer, for her terrific and magical re-creation.
Jan
30
I always try to walk away from a photo shoot with some new thing learned – whether it be a new lighting concept, pose, business idea or workflow modification. This weekend I think it really hit home on how important it is to be extremely ORGANIZED. Especially when you have a lot of equipment and props and limited time. On Saturday I did a company shoot for Boulder Ballet. There were 8 company members all who required head shots and dance shots. And then there were (as always) the unexpected variables that popped up. The real skill is being able to handle these unanticipated events. And that is where organization is key. Here’s a list of resolutions I came up with afterwards so that maybe next time I can reduce the stress level a bit.
1 – Immediately after each shoot (same day or, at latest, next day), review the glitches and make the fixes. Can’t find the AA batteries during the shoot? Pack spare batteries in every single pack and bag you take with you. Out of tape? Proceed immediately to the computer and order 4 more rolls. The trick is to take care of it immediately after your shoot so you don’t forget.
2 – After each shoot examine and fix all equipment that acted quirky or didn’t function at all. For instance, during this session I couldn’t get my light meter to work. I think I just hadn’t used it in awhile and it was on the wrong setting. So the next day I sat down with it and refreshed my memory. Not that big a deal since I had a laptop tethered to the camera and could check the exposure on the screen. But still, it would have been easier and more precise to have been able to use the meter.
3. For everything there is a place! Make sure you return equipment back to the same exact place you took it from. When you are back at your studio, recheck all the packing as often times, in a rush to get out, small items are misplaced and even lost. If you lost something go right to the computer and order another. Even a missing screw can “screw up” the next shoot.
4 – Before every shoot – check/replace/recharge batteries on EVERYTHING.
5 – Before every shoot – check all connections that tend to slither loose and tape them securely.
Anyway, despite whatever mishaps I had ( and cleverly tried to disguise ) I was relatively happy with the results. (see below)
Ryan Seate
Rachel Haber
Matthew Helms
