Dancers, Still Kicking…….

Mentioning Vegas can produce rolled eyes. The conventions, the canned air, the glitz. It’s not for everyone, I get it. I happen to love Vegas, the color and the craze of it. But, mostly I love it because of my very talented friends. Dancers, performers, athletes all, but friends first and foremost.

As a photog, I’ve always been drawn to the performing arts, be it dance, theater, circus. If it involves a stage, and thus a performance, I’m intrigued. Performers work unbelievably hard to perfect their craft, logging a lifetime of hours. It’s tough, and risky. ‘Cause then they take all that hard work onstage and place the uncertain bet that people will want to watch them. Even more audacious, that people will want to pay money to watch them.

The Vegas stages have been largely dark during this awful year, so this blog is a simple shout-out to the resiliency of the performer, and a hope for the lights on the strip to glow bright again in 2021. That would be a wonderful gift to all of us, as we celebrate this holiday week.

Pretty recent BTS video of Joli on stage and off…

Joli and Alexi, sisters who have been dancing together since they were toddlers, have launched The Wellness Blend. I have worked with both, and they are as splendid in front of the camera as they are energetic and helpful in the workout routines they have on their channel.

Wayne and Kat are engaged! And offering fitness routines.

 

Check out Wayne’s Instagram. I mean, who does a bench press with another human on top of the bar?

And Kat on Instagram. When I needed someone to perch atop a Gitzo tripod for a marketing picture, Kat made balancing on a Systematic look like she had been doing it all along.

Or a truck tire.

And Daria. Olympic swimmer and one of the lead performers in the “O” show.

Daria, along with Manu Kiza, a lead in the “Ka” show, did amazing things for the camera when I built a set of mirrors outside Vegas in the desert.

And a shout-out to Las Vegas based friend and wonderfully talented photographer Brian Friedman, who celebrates performance in his own work. When we did a WPPI Photo Walk early this year, Brian came along and helped us and the group out – just terrific. He’s with us here, mixed in the group making snaps as my wife Annie gets an overall shot of Joli, Alexi and I doing a three musketeers pose at the end of our walk. I am definitely the oddball out in this picture, for sure!

Tip of the hat to the performers, who make our jaws drop, make us wonder, and offer delight, laughter, and rapture to all of us from the stage. Have sorely missed them and eager for them to be back where they belong again, this coming year, in front of the bright lights.

More tk….