The opening night of this show, shot in Lyon, France, caused quite an uproar from the French audience who came expecting to see dance. The soundtrack for the one-hour performance was two large droning industrial fans that were mic'd and amplified through the PA. Within the first five minutes the audience started streaming out of the theater. I sat next to Ms. Marin, the choreographer, shooting away with a telephoto, as the audience started yelling in protest. The energy and frenzy picked up, as a group of protesters started gathering near the stage, yelling at the dancers, as other audience members were yelling back at the protesters. Then suddenly some of the protestors climbed onto the stage and proceeded to try and destroy the mylar props. The short of stature, Ms. Marin leapt out of her seat and sprinted to the stage to fight with the much larger men to get off her stage. This whole time the fans kept droning and the dancers kept performing, albeit, on the back of the stage. It was easily the best performance I ever saw. Maguy Marin is known for performance that people either completelt Love, or completely hate—there is no middle ground.
This was my introduction into dance photography, when Paul King and Walter Jaffe of Whitebird Dance Promotions hired me to shoot this spectacle by the famous puppet maker Michael Curry(Lion King). I was hooked, and went on to shoot dozens of companies from around the world.
Mike and Cydney created this outdoor performance space where they performed four seasonal pieces near the banks of the Willamette River in downtown Portland, Oregon.
This was shot for the cover of Dance Magazine.
Trey McIntyre's Rite of Spring