These are photos from the Professional Shows at the end of the Spring Freestyles. The local DC Area Arthur Murray studios put on amazing local events. On this occasion, the surrounding studios get together and give students a great chance to show off their newest skills, and their fanciest costumes! This one was held at the Sheraton Premiere in Tysons Corner. Their main ballroom has been my personal proving ground for ballroom dance photography. Additionally it has provided TimeLine Media with some of its best photos.
Arthur Murray Pro Shows
Featured in these photos are teachers from the Silver Spring, Tysons Corner, Alexandria, and Gaithersburg studios. These are always the capstone to the Freestyles event. After all the students have danced, competed, and received their awards, they get a chance to see demonstrations of skill by their instructors. The entire floor is for them, the entire room focuses on the floor with everyone pushing their chairs right to the edge, and I place myself in what I hope is the best spot to capture the action! It is a source of pride for each studio to see them dance, and they give us amateurs something to aspire to for the next event.
Arthur Murray DC Pro Show 1Arthur Murray DC Pro Show 2
This is one of my favorite ballroom dance photos turned to black and white.
In the latest issue of American Dancer Magazine, one of my photos was published in an article about the USA DanceMid-Atlantic Championships. I have had the privilege of photographing the dancers at this event for the last three years! This competition is one of the last qualifying events prior to the USA Dance National Dancesport Champioships. I have to thank Joe Huesmann for giving us the opportunity to cover the event at the beginning. Additional he has supported our photography efforts over the years. Also thanks to Jack Reinhold, President of the USA Dance DC Chapter for wanting to use some of our images for his article in the magazine.
This year, the event was held a great venue, the Bethesda North Marriott Hotel & Conference Center. The ballroom really responded well to our setup, and the photos from that weekend were dynamic for all divisions!
In this photo, the dancers were almost a third of the way down the floor from my position. Seeing them dance previously, I knew this was a line they would hit and hold for a few seconds. In post processing, I added a sepia tone and vignette to emphasize the dancers away from the busy ballroom background.
I’ll post more from the event in future blog posts, but I just wanted to share the exciting news as I just received the magazine in the mail today. Please check it out! You can view the rest of the photos from the event at my proofing site:
Life takes a strange winding road. Looking back, my wanting to be in something creative led me to photography. Although I love music, and had studied piano from 4 until college, my attempt at becoming a pianist, a-cappella music director, or recording engineer was just not sustainable. I had an amazing time doing these things, but I always seem to come up a bit short when challenged. Much like in my science career at the time, I was adequate, but not special. However, I may have gotten lucky at the Bally’s casino/hotel in Atlantic City.
Dance-o-rama
Bally’s in Atlantic City, NJ
When dancing in at the 2007 Arthur Murray Dance-o-rama, I photographed my fellow students, and instructors from the Arthur Murray dance center in Tysons Corner, VA. Throughout the weekend, I found that ballroom dance was a terrific subject for photos! Additionally it was a fun challenge to capture. There were different types of dances, and different costumes for each type of dance. Also lots of personalities that could be captured from facial expressions, body movement, and moments in between dances. I pushed my camera and 70-200mm lens as far as they would go. It was necessary to try to get better photographs during each heat.
Professional Dance Competition
Open Professional Rhythm Competitors
Overall the goal was to catch dancers in their dramatic lines that were well-practiced, and perfected leading up to the competition. Comparatively, i tried to catch students performing at their best in front of the judges! Likewise it was an ice breaker to interact with students from other studios. With a cheering crowd, and encouraging friends I felt that I really wanted to capture the mood. It was not every day that you see an event of this kind.
Open Professional Rhythm Competitors
Now, three years later, the thrill of that first big competition is still with me. With this in mind, I will again go to the Bally’s Atlantic City for the 2010 New Jersey State Open. It was the same room that I made my first ballroom dance photographs. I still get caught up in the excitement when the music starts. Moreover there is another set of friends, instructors, and dancers start to cheer! My hope is that I can capture not only the anxious, excited mood of the event but the months and years of work the dancers have invested.
Bally’s Atlantic City
Pro-Am dancers at the Arthur Murray Dance-o-rama in Atlantic City, NJ
There are so many I need to thank for helping me along this journey – Steve Theiss for giving my first opportunity to photograph dancers and who really helped open the door to more events, to my first subjects at this dance event who sucked my laptop’s battery dry on the ride home to view all the photos, and lastly to my wife Bryony who has gone to EVERY event I have photographed doing everything behind the scenes from downloading cards, editing images, and talking with dancers about our photography. I am really behind on the blog, but I promise to get more of our 2010 events up here very soon!
