All images are from the Culmination performance
At one time I photographed Festival Ballet Providence (FBP) regularly. It’s been several years since that time; however, over the years I kept in touch with Vilia Putrius, the FBP principal ballerina then. Vilia recently retired from dancing accepting a position at Festival Ballet as School Director. Recently she asked if I would be interested in photographing the students as they prepare to perform the new ballet “Seasons.” I quickly responded “yes” as I missed not only photographing dance but also watching the dancers master the choreography as well as their own performance.
It was early March when I attended and photographed a rehearsal. I had forgotten how challenging photographing dance in the studio with minimal lighting could be. I was also a bit rusty in anticipating and capturing the peak movement of the dancers. The students aged from six to eighteen, many have been dancing since age three. After processing images I decided to print the images on 5×7 paper and give them to the students at each and every subsequent rehearsal. The students liked them and I felt satisfaction in providing these young men and ladies the ability to see themselves performing; capturing and preserving a memory for them in the future. Most of these images were taken with dancers wearing leotards and tights with an occasional tutu, under mixed lighting of fluorescent and some natural lighting. As the opening day performance neared, a dress rehearsal was scheduled at Sapinsley Hall, RI College which I photographed. But, the opening day performance just around the corner, I was unable to process, print and distribute images as usual. So, I am using this post as a means to reach the dancers with digital images which I assume they would prefer anyway.
The Seasons performance was extraordinary. All the missed spots, musical chairs, late entrances that I saw in rehearsals disappeared, and the live performance was downright faultless, exemplary. After watching every dancer work tirelessly to perfect their moves over the past months I owned this heartfelt admiration for what each and everyone accomplished. Finally to Vilia, “Bravo!” well done, congratulations. Take a well-deserved bow. Seasons was a complete success as was Culmination which was the contemporary dance. Choreography for the contemporary dance by several Festival Ballet dance instructors.
jim…e…t.
