I have been dancing with Miami City Ballet for five seasons. Two of those seasons have been dually dedicated to capturing photographs of the company. This became an interest of mine when I saw a few other company members taking pictures of performances backstage with professional cameras. As a flourishing photographer, I thought it would be cool to expand my skills and take a shot at action photos. I began by purchasing a sports lens for my SLR camera, and started bringing it to work. It was difficult at first, but I soon found my groove. Now, whenever we have a dress rehearsal, I am out in the theater snapping away … that is, when I’m not dancing. Even when I am dancing, every chance I get I sneak out front to take some photos. I find a great deal of importance in what I am doing. As dancers we rarely see photos of ourselves doing what we love, and I think it is important to be able to realize how cool our jobs are! I do have to say I may be cheating a little. You see, I usually know when the exact timing is for the perfect ballet photo. How? I usually know the ballets I am shooting. That’s the beauty of photographing something you are so well trained in!
Leigh-Ann Esty got her hands on the Flip camera once again and headed straight into the studios for some thoughts on Open Barre. What are you looking forward to seeing during Open Barre 2?
Friday and Saturday nights are sold out, but you can still attend the Saturday afternoon performance at 2 p.m. Don’t miss it!
Leigh and Brad, sitting in a tree! In our second installment of the Love Series, Leigh-Ann Esty and Bradley Dunlap, both corps de ballet members, talk about life outside of the Company and play our question game. Will they get them all right?
More MCB LOVE!
Cupid’s aim was on the money when he hit Kristin D’Addario, corps de ballet member, and Peter Doll, former MCB dancer and current Assistant Stage Manager. They are another young, fun couple who met and fell in love at Miami City Ballet.
Hello everyone! It’s Leigh Esty back with another video installment of Miami City Ballet on tour–this time we traveled to Chicago! I’ll take you from hot Miami weather to chilly temps in the Windy City! You’ll see excerpts of performances, rehearsals and backstage action. Chicago welcomed us with open arms, blessing us with grand applause, full houses and wonderful reviews. This tour was full of exciting moments! Principal Dancer Patricia Delgado got her hands on the Flip and added her commentary during backstage activities. Two of our corps members danced new roles! To say the least, this tour was quite eventful. I hope you enjoy my video journal as much as we enjoyed Chicago!
Stephen Satterfield, MCB Corps de Ballet, had the opportunity to dance a principal role in Symphony in Three Movements on the Chicago tour. Check out this video about his experience.
With the support of the Miami-Dade County Tourist Development Council, the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs, the Cultural Affairs Council, the Miami-Dade County Mayor and Board of County Commissioners.
Leigh-Ann’s experience with the Flip camera in Vail comes to an end in Part 3 of her video journal series. Here she takes you through MCB’s final days at the festival including Up Close: Edward Villella, on stage before and after a performance of “Rubies” and on the journey home.
Leigh-Ann did a terrific job documenting the Vail tour and was extremely excited about sharing it with you. Stay tuned for coverage on future tours!
Did you enjoy the video journal? What else would you like to see?
We hope you enjoyed the first part of Leigh-Ann’s video journal. There is so much more to see! In Part 2 you’ll follow the dancers during their time off in Vail, listen in on Damian Woetzel talking to the dancers at dinner, watch a pre-performance company class, and more.
Check back tomorrow for the third and final part of the video journal.
Hello everyone! Leigh-Ann Esty, here. I am a member of MCB’s Corps de Ballet.
As you know, the Company recently traveled to Colorado, to participate in the Vail International Dance Festival, directed by Damian Woetzel (former New York City Ballet dancer). It hadn’t been long since we’d gotten back from our summertime off, and before we knew it we were packed and on our way. When I was asked by the Company to carry around a Flip camera and document our trip, you can imagine how excited I was – I’m a huge photography fan! I tried to capture all the moments I could: in the airport, on the bus, during free time, even on stage while we were warming up and about to perform! Out of this came a three-part video journal series, which gives you a sneak peek of what it’s like to be in the Company when we’re on tour. One of the best parts of this whole experience is being able to show you how normal ballet dancers really are! We are just a bunch of goofballs.
In Part 1 you’ll join us on the way to Vail and watch as we adapt to our new, and very different surroundings. You’ll see the two beautiful venues we performed at (Gerald R. Ford Ampitheater and Vilar Performing Arts Center), the dancers share their feelings about the Vail tour, and watch us backstage as we prepare for show time. Check back on Friday and Saturday for the rest of the Vail coverage .
Well, I hope you enjoy the clips! We all had a great time in Vail…minus the dramatic moments of high altitude hitting us! Thanks for viewing.
Select members of the Company are headed to Colorado today to participate in the Vail International Dance Festival. Making our Vail debut on August 1, we will perform George Balanchine classics Tarantella, The Four Temperaments and Serenade. On August 2 we’ll perform “Rubies” in the Festival Highlights Spectacular. And on August 3 is a unique discussion/demonstration called Up Close: Edward Villella, which examines his famous dance roles (including Prodigal Son, “Rubies”, Tarantella, Afternoon of a Faun, Dances at a Gathering and more).
We handed over our video camera to Corps de Ballet member, Leigh-Ann Esty, to document this exciting experience.
Why Leigh? She’s enthusiastic, in her words “a fanatic about documenting trips,” and has a passion for photography. She was even published in National Geographic Traveler, when she won their 2008 World In Focus contest with this image of the Eiffel Tower.
Check back next week for Leigh’s behind-the-scenes coverage of MCB at the festival.
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