Remix

07. October 2023 · Write a comment · Categories: Dance, Music & Video, Performance, Photography · Tags: La La Human Steps, Louise Lecavalier, not ballet

Mash up sound score and parody by Alice Gebura

REMIX: La La Human Steps Human Sex 1985

You gotta love the inimitable Louise Lacavalier. Thankfully Rainald Di Cesare and Bernar Hébert got her on film. This is a clip from a film directed by Di Cesare and Hébert. La La Human Steps, a Canadian dance company (1980-2015), performs Human Sex 1985. Lead soloist Louise Lacavalier turns the tables on ballet and its traditional prima ballerina. With this clip I provide the lead in and fade out, otherwise the clip is exactly as Di Cesare and Hébert filmed it.

Randall Kay and Louis Seize wrote (and perform on stage) the punk score that’s perfect for this choreography. But watching the film I had deja vu all over again. My mash-up sound track turns the tables a bit as well.

For more of the incredible Louise Lacavalier, see her web site.

Merce Cunningham: Field Dances

09. June 2017 · Comments Off · Categories: Dance · Tags: dance photography, Merce Cunningham, modern dance, Walker Art Center

The Walker Art Center hired me to photograph Merce Cunningham’s Field Dances. The Dances are based on the movements of children he observed at a playground. At the Walker Art Center I photographed the workshop where volunteers were taught five interactive movements and then joined by a corps of professional dancers to perform the piece.

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Visions of Sugarplums

04. January 2017 · Comments Off · Categories: Dance · Tags: burlesque, Nutcracker

Visions of Sugarplums is a burlesque parody of our traditional Nutcracker ballet, joining the catalog that includes Mark Morris’ The Cracked Nut and Myron Johnson’s Nutcracker Not So Suite. Sugarplums is a hoot with lots of talent, great costumes and music.

In 2014 I photographed the dress rehearsal for the Sugarplum’s inaugural run at the Ritz Theater in Minneapolis. This year I photographed the dress rehearsal and one of the performances for the 2016 show, this time running at the Lab Theater in Minneapolis. In the following compilation of images you might notice how different lighting and textures are created in the two theaters.

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Re-Imagining the Background of a Studio Portrait

13. February 2016 · Comments Off · Categories: Dance · Tags: composite with Photoshop, portrait photography

Studio portraits are great because I can control the lighting and other factors in the environment to create a high-quality image. But they can be a bit boring with the same old backdrop. I enjoy using Photoshop to create an alternate background. First there’s the technical challenge of making a clean mask. How this goes depends on the clarity of the edges. Elements such as flying hair are time consuming. Then, once I have an idea for the background, I have to figure out how it’s going to work in terms of light, color, perspective, and blending. All photos Copyright 2016 Alice Gebura All Rights Reserved.

Cara Seymour, 2015 Lois Greenfield Workshop

Replaced the wall and floor with a soft background and figure shadow

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Anton LaMon and Kelly Vittetoe, Photo shoot at the Tek Box, Cowles Center for Dance

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Sunset and water. Bi-colored filter on the dancers to blend the tonality.

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Anton LaMon and Kelly Vittetoe, Photo shoot at the Tek Box, Cowles Center for Dance

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Hue, saturation, and exposure applied to background fabric from another photo. Created a mirror floor.

Generations

16. August 2015 · Comments Off · Categories: Dance · Tags: b-boys, ballet, breakdance, Nutcracker

August 15, 2015

Who needs anatomy drawing class when you can photograph b-boys! Outside in the Cowles Center parking lot in 90-degree heat, b-boy crews from around the country were battling to make the finals and win some cash prizes. I loved shooting all manner of contortions, freezes, kicks, and airborne gyrations. The tricks are impressive but I also thought the upright dance moves created their own poetry.

Earlier, inside the Cowles Center in the Minnesota Dance Theater Studio, I photographed a lovely Nutcracker performance workshop. Choreographer Katie Rose McLaughlin has imagined how Clara’s life might have unfolded after the Nutcracker episode. Four female dancers play Clara at different ages. The younger dancers, including the superb Barton Cowperthwaite, were technically and artistically delightful. Yet, I was especially struck by the grace and elegant movement of older dancer, Lise Houlton.

Dance Out of Africa

10. August 2015 · Comments Off · Categories: Dance · Tags: Afro-Cuban dance, Brazillian samba, Cuban rumba, West African dance

What a fabulous show! Enjoy the photos!

Dancers from the show Dance Out of Africa are granted a limited license to use these photos as follows: You may download an image for your own use on social media free of charge. You may not delete, crop, or alter any photo in any way. Any attempt to remove the watermark that identifies Alice Gebura as the photographer is a violation of this license. All photos Copyright 2015 Alice Gebura All Rights Reserved.

For any other use of these photos, you must request an additional license from the photographer, Alice Gebura, whom you can contact via email or phone. For contact information, see the column to the right.

Minneapolis Music Company & Live Action Set Perform Devilish Dances

29. October 2014 · Comments Off · Categories: Dance

A Fiddler’s Tale

Music by Wynton Marsalis, Libretto by Stanley Crouch

Performed by Minneapolis Music Company, Mischa Santora conducting, Raye Birk narrating, and Live Action Set: Noah Bremer (artistic director), Stepahie Fellner, and Anton LaMon; Performed at the Bedlam Theater, St. Paul, Oct. 30, 2014

A fiddler, Beatrice Connors, sells her music (her soul) to the devil, Bubba Z. Beals, a record company executive, in exchange for a successful music career.

Her name is Beatrice Connors

Stephanie Fellner as the violinist.

Dancers at the Tek Box, Cowles Center for Dance

15. October 2014 · Comments Off · Categories: Dance

B-Boys

08. October 2014 · 1 comment · Categories: Dance

Crew vs, Crew Ground Breaker Battle

The Cowles Center for Dance and the Performing Arts
Sept. 12, 2014

Lloyd Knight, Dancer with Martha Graham Company

12. July 2014 · Comments Off · Categories: Dance

This was a difficult photo shoot because of the light. It was windy and more and more clouds rolled in, sometimes covering the sun and eventually covering most of the sky. This meant constantly stopping to change exposure settings and the light changing on us during a sequence of shots. This also meant shadows were casting on the dancer. Studio lighting is easier to control but it’s worth the effort outdoors to capture the dancer with a gorgeous background.