What an honor and pleasure to collaborate with internationally celebrated photographer Jiamin Zhu on this auspicious project. Zhu's prolific catalog of intoxicating imagery is truly stunning, ranging from haute couture editorials to fairytale fancy, and her work is sought after around the world. We were thrilled to join creative forces with her, and very excited that the image above was featured in Italian Vogue's online platform: PhotoVogue!
October 2015: We performed before Jiamin's expert lens with new material from our show Into the Dreaming, created for Royal Caribbean International. The shoot took place at Pacific Ballroom Dance, our home away from home, in Auburn, WA. We spend quite a bit of time at this beautiful studio rehearsing, filming, and of course...practicing our ballroom dance steps.
The team included Jiamin, Eric, Quynbi and our flyman Kevin, and we focused on one of the early scenes from the show (watch the entire act here). Amaru the Hunter/Warrior must make a dangerous pilgrimage up the great mountain amidst the rage and rancor of a monstrous force. Amaru seeks the Mystical Oracle Zianaa’s counsel in the hopes of resurrecting his village from a shadowy influence. Below, our hero and heroine have their first encounter:
As you may well guess, the two fall madly in love.
Creating these shots was a fun challenge for the whole crew, as the scene is delicately complex. Between the need to avoid flying directly in to Amaru's giant spear and pauldron, Quynbi has a billowy costume to manage, an aerial ballet to perform and a pair of aerodynamic wings - not to mention the actual choreography and equipment. We all had a lot to think about. In the live act, Zianaa descends from the heavens in an enchanting aerial dance, hovering just between air and floor.
Jiamin did an amazing job of capturing such challenging shots, and the result is magic!
Special Thanks to Pacific Ballroom Dance! They offer a variety of fun, engaging weekly adult and youth classes as well as social dances.