Tag: Dublin

Laura Macken Dance

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I had the pleasure of once again being in the studio with Laura Macken Dance and her ensemble of talented Irish and international dance artists – Eoin Padraig MacDonnacha, Kate Haughton, Rebecca Lee, Yuilya Prokhorova, Fanni Esterhazy, Pablo von Sternenfels, Anibal dos Santos and Gabriella Basco.

Both pieces, ‘Connections’ and ‘Lift’ are a real visual treat to capture and so diverse in style.

It is really wonderful to see ballet being supported by The Arts Council Ireland and great that a female Irish choreographer is at the helm.

The week ended with a packed studio performance in St. Catherine’s Sports Centre and the exciting news that both pieces will be performed in Projects Arts Centre in November. Well done everyone!

The Watchmaker Classical and Street Dance Theatre

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Photoshoot fun (involving lots of sparkles with the time fairies and smoke machines with the shadow spirits (plus a smoke alarm to add to the excitement!) with The Watchmaker Classical and Street Dance theatre in advance of their 2019 EU tour starting in Switzerland on 11 May. Check out http://www.thewatchmakershow.com/ for more information.


Choreographed by the talented Veronika Sardiko (who is also the artistic director and owner of MyArt Dance and Art Studio in Dublin), The Watchmaker blends classical ballet and street dance in a modern metropolis. ‘The Watchmaker’ presents the reality of people living in a busy modern city. Lost amidst the hustle and bustle of routine, precious moments of life slip by unappreciated. A mysterious and magic fairy tale for kids and adults. Buy tickets here http://tinyurl.com/yydd4kb3.

Dublin Culture Night

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Dublin Culture Night  (21 September 2018) is always a highlight in the events calendar – such a great friendly crowd and so many more places get involved each year. This year I was lucky to have the opportunity to take some shots of 3 varied studio performances in Dance Ireland, what a treat!

Juan Jesus Guiraldi – Dance Ireland International Associate Artist

A mesmerising and hypnotic contemporary dance performance with Juan Jesus Guiraldi. I look forward to see how this piece develops in the future.

Juan Jesus Guiraldi
Juan Jesus Guiraldi
Juan Jesus Guiraldi
Juan Jesus Guiraldi
Juan Jesus Guiraldi

Ballet Ireland with Marguerite Donlon/Donlon Dance Collective

The packed studio audience had a fascinating insight into the rehearsal process with Ballet Ireland and internationally recognized choreographer Marguerite Donlon and Francesco Vecchione (Donlon Dance Collective).  An absolute pleasure to watch a performance of a newly created contemporary piece they had been working on for the last two weeks.

Ballet Ireland
Ballet Ireland
Ballet Ireland
Ballet Ireland

‘In Struggle We Hope’ with Tobi Omoteso & Leo Wolstenholme

The final performance ‘In Struggle We Hope’ was something entirely unexpected (to me anyway!) – a combination of abstract movements and B-Boy/Street Dance intertwined with improvisational and traditional violin music. So much energy – the audience gasped at one stage at a jump/somersault, it was hard for my camera to keep up!

A really unique evening and great to see such diverse audiences for all 3 performances. Well done Dance Ireland and all the performers – until next year!

Tobi Omoteso & Leo Wolstenholme
Tobi Omoteso & Leo Wolstenholme
Tobi Omoteso & Leo Wolstenholme
Tobi Omoteso & Leo Wolstenholme
Tobi Omoteso & Leo Wolstenholme
Tobi Omoteso & Leo Wolstenholme

Inspiration…

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I attended a fantastic day of talks with photographers David Hobby (aka the Strobist) and Sara Lando. I signed up ages ago (I love when international photographers visit Dublin!) and quite honestly didn’t know what to expect as it wasn’t a practical workshop. Hearing both describe their photographic journeys (the good and bad) was fascinating and inspiring. Both were very generous with the information they shared – I tend to find that photographers at the top of the game are the most generous with their knowledge (it’s really refreshing!). I really loved the impromptu cling film and flour shoot with Sara – I’m going to try this out myself! David passed on lots of advice, his yearly ‘ecosystem’ life map is something we all should do and next on my agenda. A few lucky people are attending practical photography workshops with David and Sara this week………

Street Performers & Sunshine

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……lots of love and laughter (and even a pitch invasion) with the Lords of Strut (yes, the Cork lads who made it to the semi-final of Britain’s Got Talent!) this afternoon at LAYA Healthcare’s City Spectacular in Merrion Square – we even had proper sunshine thrown in for good measure!

Mina Clown from Argentina kept us smiling and the USA Breakdancers brought their A-game with some spectacular street dancing. Always a great day out!

Lords of Strut 2017
Lords of Strut 2017
Lords of Strut 2017
Lords of Strut 2017

LAYA Healthcare City Spectacular 2017

The Language of Light with Joe McNally

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Joe McNally, The Language of Light Seminar – DLR Lexicon, Dun Laoghaire, Co. Dublin

I am always interested in expanding my boundaries and getting out of my comfort zone (usually a garden!). With this in mind, I attended the IPAA organized Joe McNally seminar in the DLR Lexicon. A super venue for a seminar like this.

It was a really interesting day. Joe is (as expected) an engaging speaker with many years of interesting stories to entertain. However, this was not simply a lecture, it was a chance to watch Joe at work inside the studio and outside too (though the rain and light got in the way). The most interesting part for me was to really see the thought process behind the lighting setups for each shot.  Joe readily admits that he doesn’t hold any secrets back and it is so refreshing to see that Joe is not afraid to make mistakes – as Joe shoots tethered we see each shot on the big screen as the lighting setup evolves

One shoot involved Liam Lambert with some puppets from the Lambert Theatre (http://www.lambertpuppettheatre.ie/?page_id=10). During this shoot you could really see his attention to detail and his desire to achieve the best result possible (I suspect other photographers would have already packed their bags at that stage!). He also picked some unsuspecting audience members for other shoots, who now have awesome Joe McNally portraits.

In essence it was a hugely informative day – and great to see the amazing results achievable from a one speedlite setup. With this new found confidence,  I am sure the next time I have a speedlite portrait shoot, I will end up with shots of Joe McNally quality!