The 2018 Presenting Denver Dance Festival was our inaugural year, featuring professional dance companies from all over Colorado. Along with performances by 15 dance companies over two days, Master Classes were taught by featured choreographers in the days leading up to the festival. Colorado Conservatory of Dance of Broomfield, CO, and Mercury Dance Academy of Centennial, CO, hosted four days of Master Classes. Each day started with a preview of the company’s Dance Festival performance, followed by a talkback/interview with the choreographer, and then a Master Class.
2018 Denver Dance Festival | Master Classes
I had the opportunity to photograph the Master Class with choreographers Jacob Mora of Moraporvida Contemporary Dance at Mercury. At CCD, I photographed the classes, interviews, and preview performances with Gregory Gonzalez and Kelly Archer of Chadesh Contemporary Dance Movement. During the interview/talk back with the master choreographers, students learned about the choreographer’s creative process and choreographic techniques. There were questions about their inspirations and dance backgrounds that gave greater context to their pieces. Each class had a different intent and style which was fascinating to see and capture. Jacob’s class concentrated on phrase work, which is learning a specific choreographed piece. In this case, the students learned a piece from the company’s repertoire. Gregory’s class was all about fine, slow movements, focusing heavily on anatomy. And finally, Kelly’s class was quite different as it was more improvisational.
From what I observed, all of the students worked incredibly hard and truly valued the time they spent with these master choreographers. And I loved getting more insight into choreography and documenting the process in my shots. I can’t wait for the next Presenting Denver Dance Festival in 2020!
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