Professional Ballet Photographer Gene Schiavone Works with Aspiring Dancers
June 13, 2016 In Gene in the Press No Comment

In this video documentary, world-renown ballet photographer Gene Schiavone explains how he opened his clientele list from exclusively professional ballet dancers to include aspiring preprofessional and student ballet dancers all over the U.S.

Watch as Gene explains the creative process involved in a 4 hour studio session to a ballet student and her mom.  The resulting photos are gorgeous.  It’s a collaboration between artists; ballerina and photographer.

The experience and photos resulting from Gene’s studio photography sessions prepare aspiring young dancers for ballet auditions, college dance scholarships, portfolios, ballet competitions and future ballet photography sessions as professionals. Many families book studio photo sessions to commemorate their young dancer’s passion & dedication with ballet portraits. Learn more at https://www.geneschiavone.com/

Video by Gregg Clemons of Naples, FL

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ADC-IBC Competition 2016 Photography by Gene Schiavone
ADC-IBC Competition in Daytona Beach, FL 2016
April 18, 2016 In Events - Calendar No Comment

I had the opportunity to be at the ADC-IBC Competition in Daytona Beach. It was wonderful to meet members of the Florida ballet community as well as have a chance to photograph some of ballet’s rising stars. It was not my intent to do much photography but hard to resist with all the talent on stage. I actually photographed many of the competitors over three days.

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ADC-IBC Competition 2016 Photography by Gene Schiavone ADC-IBC Competition 2016 Photography by Gene Schiavone ADC-IBC Competition 2016 Photography by Gene Schiavone ADC-IBC Competition 2016 Photography by Gene Schiavone

ADC-IBC Competition 2016 Photography by Gene Schiavone ADC-IBC Competition 2016 Photography by Gene Schiavone ADC-IBC Competition 2016 Photography by Gene Schiavone ADC-IBC Competition 2016 Photography by Gene Schiavone

 

 

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Boston Ballet (c) Gene Schiavone
Boston Ballet – Gene Schiavone on Dance Photography
November 11, 2015 In Gene in the Press No Comment

Article Originally Published on BostonBallet.org. Excerpt…

My first assignment for Boston Ballet was Carmen, Serenade and Dying Swan in May of 2006. That was followed by a location shoot at the Museum of Fine Arts, featuring Don Quixote and other ballets. Two challenges always present in stage work are lighting and speed of movement, and the choice is always blur or grain. The term “dramatic lighting” is terrifying to a dance photographer, as it usually means “no light”. On a positive note, constant camera and software development has made the task a little easier.

Looking at a photograph is different from watching a performance. The camera freezes a moment in time that immediately becomes the past. It preserves an instant that is usually not evident to the audience who is watching the dancer pass through it. I’m happy to be able to preserve some of these moments.

My favorite classical ballet to shoot is Swan Lake. It’s very difficult due to the “dramatic lighting” but rewarding if you’re able to capture the emotion. To me, a good image is one in which you can hear the music. When I look at a Swan Lake photo, I can always hear the music.

Boston Ballet is one of the great companies and this will mark my fifth year. I consider it a great privilege.

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Photo Credit: Gene Schiavone Ballet Photographer
A Few Pointe Shoes from Gene’s Collection
October 28, 2015 In Behind the Scenes No Comment

THEIR SHOES TELL A STORY
As some of you know, when I do a studio session with students and professionals, I ask that they leave a pair of signed shoes. Looking at the few I photographed today, I understood that they were not simply shoes but represent individual stories of commitment, dedication and sacrifice.

Many of these girls will do other things, however one or two may just get to perform on the big stages around the world. Perhaps I will have an opportunity to photograph them and place their shoes as principals next to their shoes as 12 or 14 or 17 year olds with big aspirations.

Included in this photo are also the shoes of Diana Vishneva, Alina Cojocaru, Paloma Herrera, Alessandra Ferri, and Julie Kent. So girls, you are in good company.

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One Vintage Nightgown, 75 Beautiful Ballerinas
October 20, 2015 In Gene in the Press No Comment

Dance Spirit Magazine Blog Post in News on Ballet Photographer Gene Schiavone by Margaret Fuhrer, April 9, 2015. Read the entire post http://www.dancespirit.com/news/one-vintage-nightgown-75-beautiful-ballerinas/

Excerpt
Let’s take a minute to talk about Gene Schiavone’s gorgeous photography, shall we? We want this guy’s life: He travels the world shooting talented dancers in both performance and studio settings. He’s especially good at capturing the essence of our favorite ballerinas. (In fact, he shot Keenan Kampa for her 2012 Dance Spirit cover!)

Schiavone recently posted on social media about his “pink Olga nightgown” project. Apparently, he found a beautiful vintage nightgown from the 1970s—designed by lingerie icon Olga Erteszek, which is where the “Olga” comes from—a few years back. Erteszek’s nightgowns, he explained on Facebook, are “unique in that they have a 120-inch sweep,” which looks especially wonderful in dance images. Since then, he’s photographed around 75 ballerinas wearing the gown. (It looks like each dancer who wears it signs the skirt, too—so cute.)

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TV Interview with Gene Schiavone
October 18, 2015 In Gene in the Press No Comment

TV Reporter Ann Nyberg of WTNH News8 talks with photographer “Gene Schiavone, photographer to ballet stars.”


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Misty-Copeland-James-Whiteside-Swan-Lake (c) Gene Shiavone
Behind The Lens With Gene Schiavone
October 18, 2015 In Gene in the Press No Comment

Interview with Gene Schiavone by Zoe Zaneteas published The Wild Magazine in July 2, 2015.
http://thewildmagazine.com/blog/gene-schiavone-ballet-interview/

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Cemetery Series Gene Schiavone
One of Ballet’s Top Photographers Explores New Realms
August 8, 2013 In Gene in the Press No Comment

Interview with Gene Schiavone by Andrew Blackmore-Dobbyn published in Huffington Post on August 8, 2013 exploring his cemetery photos project.

Excerpt

In the world of dance photography, Gene Schiavone’s photographs are acclaimed for their brilliant clarity and his exceptional ability to capture those special moments that define the art of ballet. He is one of the very best of an elite cadre of photographers. He is also a legend within the dance world for his easygoing kindness. He exudes the friendly, calm confidence of someone who knows how good he is but doesn’t need to prove anything. Schiavone is a staff photographer for American Ballet Theatre and does freelance work with the Mariinsky, Royal Ballet, Bolshoi Ballet, Boston Ballet, San Francisco Ballet and many others. It’s safe to say that, other than the New York City Ballet which has its own photographers, you haven’t arrived until you’ve been photographed by Gene Schiavone.

All artists are constantly evolving and Schiavone is no exception. He has begun a new series of work creating images of mystery and poetry in cemeteries. He isn’t sure where he’s going with it yet, but he is following his compulsion and trusting his instincts for now. I traveled recently with Schiavone to a cemetery in Queens to observe and talk with him as he photographed Viktoria Hofstaedter, a New York City based dancer. The images he creates are haunting meditations on eternal themes of death and loss.

Read the entire article at HuffPost.com > http://www.huffingtonpost.com/andrew-blackmore-Dobbyn/gene-schiavone-ballet-photography_b_3664270.html

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Crop shot of Oksana Skorik (c) Gene Schiavone
The Crop
March 17, 2013 In Photography Tips No Comment

I think one of the most important elements of an image is the crop. It’s a little like cutting a diamond, you want to chisel away everything that is not flattering and be left with something that sparkles. The first image is the full shot of Oksana Skorik (Mariinsky) in Swan Lake.

I wanted to highlight her beautiful form and did a very tight crop of just her upper body. You may have chosen something different but I think this is very dramatic. The camera was a Nikon D800E which is 36 megapixels, it allows you to take a small crop and still have enough resolution left to make a large print. Tech Info: F4, 200 sec, -67 exp comp, 4000 ISO

Full shot of Oksana Skorik (Mariinsky) in Swan Lake (c) Gene Schiavone
Crop full shot of Oksana Skorik (Mariinsky) in Swan Lake (c) Gene Schiavone

 

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NATALIA OSIPOVA IN A STUDIO SESSION (c) Gene Schiavone
Natalia Osipova in a Studio Session
March 17, 2013 In Photography Tips No Comment

I did this shoot with Natasha in a rehearsal studio at City Center last summer. The tech info is: F6.3, 250 sec, 0 exp comp,ISO 200, 82mm. The camera was a Nikon D800E with a 70-200 F2.8 lens at 82mm which produces a 37MB raw file. In the past I used a Hassleblad medium format with a leaf digital back, the setup was slow to work with. The new Nikon changed everything. The image has an enormous amount of detail and you could blow it up and put it on the side of a building. The lighting is a single small soft box up and to the left. No need to make things complicated, I keep it simple and get dramatic results. You can light almost anything with a single source.

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    Gene Schiavone
    International Ballet Photographer

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