Category: Dance

Variations

Following on from the success of “Elemental“, CUCDW’s annual dance show at the ADC Theatre, much of the same team of producers, choreographers and dancers put on another show, Variations. While the lighting and venue couldn’t quite match Eddy Langley‘s lighting and the ADC stage, there were still a few great pieces of dance to enjoy. As usual, Sinead Boughey, Jennifer Hersch and Vaughan Watts shone.

More photos of Variations can be found on CantabPhotos.com

In the Spotlight

The second dance show, being performed on the same days (a shame to have two dance shows taking place at the same time), was by the CU Tap and Jazz society (CUTAZZ), and took place in the Mumford Theatre. It was the first time I’d been there, and the auditorium and stage were quite impressive. An array of colourful costumes appeared for many jazz and tap pieces, with both seasoned experts and nervous amateurs taking part. One dancer in particular stood out, Natalie Demain, brimming with enthusiasm, enjoyment, confidence, and buckets of talent and ability. It was only at the end of the show that it was announced that she helps teach the classes!

More photos of In the Spotlight can be found on CantabPhotos.com

As I wasn’t able to get photographs of the whole show last Monday evening (see previous post), I went to the last performance of the week, and took photographs from the lighting box, accompanied by the show’s very talented lighting designer, Eddy Langley. Having spent well over an hour just downloading the photos, rotating them, sorting them into each of the 25 dances, and discarding any unusable photos, I finally got a chance to look at the photos. As usual, the choreography and lighting produced some wonderful imagery, but one of the photos took my breath away (well, I actually said “wow”). In the piece “Fire from Water”, the dancers wore loose strips of orange and yellow ribbon “bringing to life the beauty of flames dancing playfully in the breeze” (seen clearly in the photo I took on Monday). This time, I took some long-exposure photos, and the one shown below looks like real fire. I wonder if the choreographer, Vaughan-Alicia Watts, had this image in her mind. Simply stunning.

UPDATED 31/01/2007: Photos of all dances are now on CantabPhotos.

“Prelude”

“Fire from Water”

“Samsui Water Women”

“Homelands”

“Bittersweet”

“Bittersweet”

“Monkey”

“Just Happen”

“Five Breaths”

“Swan Song”

“Sandstorm”

I’d been looking forward to this year’s CUCDW Dance Show (Cambridge University Contemporary Dance Workshop), as I used to dance with people who performed in previous shows, and have always enjoyed the performances, lighting and music. Last year, I managed to get some wonderful photos of the show, called “Touch”. This year, I was asked back to photograph the show, except unfortunately I was double-booked for the evening of the tech/dress rehearsal. I managed to photograph the first four pieces before having to rush off to another photography assignment (Imogen Heap at the Cambridge Junction). Here are some of my favourite first pics from the dances that I saw.
The first photograph below makes me think of Fire…

I hope to be able to photograph some more of the dances later this week.

This week saw the return of the annual CUCDW (Cambridge University Contemporary Dance Workshop) dance show at the ADC Theatre. I took photos of last year’s show, Spectrum, for the Varsity review, and did so again this year. This time round, though, I was armed with a better camera (Canon 20D v Canon 300D), more memory (2Gb v 256Mb), and better access to take photos (freedom to wander during full dress rehearsal v fixed position on a show night). I quickly picked the best 40 photos for my CantabPhotos album, but will be adding more when I can make the time.

This photo was chosen for the Varsity review:

More photos of the dance show “Touch” are on CantabPhotos