Is it possible to photograph rehearsals?

[movphoto]

I'm a hobbyist photographer and I would love to be able to photograph a rehearsal of ballet dancers.  Even exercises would be good.

I'm interested in capturing movement, here is an image I took to get an idea of what I mean https://www.instagram.com/p/BgXbSjmheU3/?taken-by=_photomaton.

Is there anywhere in London where I would be able to get permission to watch and photograph a rehearsal?

 

Thank you.

[Nicola H]

subject to you have the relevant insurances and  acceptable terms over the IP,  I suspect that  there are plenty of adult  recreational  classes  who would  appreciate the offer, especially  if you  offered  the teacher / school  the ability to use the pictures in publicity material . 

[Jan McNulty]

Hello movphoto and welcome to the Forum!

 

I think Nicola has given some good advice there.  I suspect some schools may also require a DBS check.

 

As far as professional companies are concerned, I think you probably have to gain accreditation through their media office and that would include information on how you would use the photographs (or how the company would expect them to be used).  

 

Some years ago a professional photographer gave a half day workshop at The Lowry which I treated my niece to.  The photographer brought a few local dancers with him to use as subjects.  It may be worth seeing if there is anything similar running in your area.

[Nicola H]

 re DBS  and  permissions / safeguarding etc etc  - that's why i said adult recreational classes , although  well run  all ages schools  will know  the rigamarole with  photos and videos of their  child / YP   students 

[trog]

The DanceXchange in Birmingham has a strict policy against photography in the studios, and I suspect other studios might have too. When class members have taken photos of each other (with each other's permission), we have to hide in the corner. When they take photos for use on their publicity material, they give you a sticker to wear if you don't want to be in the photos. I have to sign consent forms for my picture to appear on their website.

[Quintus]

I think there are any number of keen photographers, including me, who would like such an opportunity, but for plenty of good reasons it looks quite hard, so I've never bothered actively pursuing it. The professional companies are very strict in how their images get used - at the top level Gene Schiavone has written about how on a given shoot he will take up to a thousand images, of which only a handful get approved for release by the company and the rest sit on his hard drive forever. The images need not just to be of the right technical quality but also show dancers in perfect technique and support the brand, via style guidelines etc, that the company is looking to portray. If you can get formally associated with a magazine or some approved dance association, then you can join the click-fest with a dozen or so others on stage rehearsal nights (for us 'friends' in the circle, ENB working stage rehearsal sessions are accompanied by a constant machine gun battery of clicks from them below in the stalls), but the route into that is unclear to me.  I imagine dance schools will happily pay to contract in a pro to do publicity shots, but will be very loathe to have amateurs snapping away. Putting it bluntly, dancers are often in revealing clothes and positions and schools' main priority will rightly be to block any possibility of exploitation rather than to save money. 

 

I used to think companies were missing a fund-raising trick as they could charge good fees for amateur photographer sessions, but I suspect they think the hassle involved in controlling the images taken and distributed outweighs that benefit.  

[movphoto]

Thanks everyone for the replies.  I am indeed discouraged by the difficulties of shooting real ballet dancers, so I guess I will resort to photographing ballet dancers "from my TV". 

[MAB]

I've taken stacks of pics over the years, but only of Russians, I've simply asked and so far never been refused, only a slight problem at the Opera Garnier when photographing the Bolshoi in '91.  Of course, you need some basic Russian to ask in the fist place, but their friendliness always trumps rules (if any actually exist).

[Lizbie1]

19 minutes ago, MAB said:

Of course, you need some basic Russian to ask in the fist place, but their friendliness always trumps rules (if any actually exist).

 

They *are* friendly! Don't be put off by what we see as a lack of smiles, they're very generous people on the whole.

 

Edited to add: just being interested and "cultured" is usually good enough for them, IME.

Edited June 1, 2018 by Lizbie1

[trog]

Here's some lovely photos from the Time/Life archive

• Ballet Dancers and the Hard, Steady Work of Creating Beauty
• 'Movement Itself': Gorgeous Color Photos of Stravinsky-Inspired Ballets
• It's About Time: Classic Stroboscopic Photos
• Happy Leap Day! (Nos 12 & 18 esp)

[movphoto]

On 01/06/2018 at 15:21, trog said:

Here's some lovely photos from the Time/Life archive

• Ballet Dancers and the Hard, Steady Work of Creating Beauty
• 'Movement Itself': Gorgeous Color Photos of Stravinsky-Inspired Ballets
• It's About Time: Classic Stroboscopic Photos
• Happy Leap Day! (Nos 12 & 18 esp)

Fantastic photos! Exact the kind of thing I was thinking of doing.