Eli | Ricardo
October 2, 2018
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And then we got to the point of talking about the project with Eli and Ricardo. I still remember that day. We had agreed to catch up in Café Juan Valdez, near Universidad de Cartagena. Once there I told them what was all about, it was so beautiful to see their reaction towards the project. Just the fact of putting together dancers from every corner of the world and also aiming to help children while doing what they love, it was close to perfection.

We had several video and photo sessions. I would say 6, perhaps 7. Every time we set the meeting point in the historical center of Cartagena de Indias, Colombia. Around 6AM so we found the spots empty or with less people than usual. The experience of shooting for the first time dancers on my own is indescribable. Eli and Ricardo or Richie how we call him, carry a beautiful “pa’ las que sea” vibe that makes you feel comfortable and inspired, and that helped me a lot to have the final product.

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This sessions wouldn’t have been possible without the selfless help of “el cuate” Christian Benito. He helped me to make it happen and shot part of the behind the scenes action. Christian is nowadays a good photographer based in the city of Bogotá D.C., Colombia.

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On this one the clock was ticking, it was 7:30AM already and this very same day Eli was headed and moving to NYC where she’s based along with Ricardo these days. Remarkable memories!

Barrio de Getsemaní

Cartagena, Colombia
Tags:
Contemporary Dance
These photos are copyrighted by insightDproject. All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized use prohibited.

Genna Carey

Modern dancer

Everything started right here with Genna, we sat a couple of days before and talk it out, she was hooked from the very first moment. Even the first dance photos I ever shot was here in NYC, I wasn’t even sure which lens I had to attach to the camera; my first idea, and because of my skateboarding background, was to try out and be safe with a wide angle, in this case a 14mm as you can appreciate in the picture.


I remember it was a cloudy afternoon, our last sunlight in NYC and we were in a rush trying to find a spot to shoot the video. Finally we found this rooftop in Brooklyn where Genna improvised this marvelous choreography.

Katie Mattar

Modern dancer

We had a perfect weather that afternoon, trying to catch the golden hour. The spot was a private parking lot, but we didn’t know until the security guard showed up and told us we had to leave. We shot this video in about 30 minutes and this one sets the transition from color to black and white in the project. 

It took us around 6 days from 6AM to 8AM to have this shooting done in Cartagena.

 

Eli & Ricardo own a speechless, beautiful and inspirational vibe. When they dance together, it seems that the world stumbles and stops just to see them perform pure human magic.

Anthony Paul Panesso

Jazz dancer

Right after the photo session with Anthony and Lucía, Anthony wanted to improvised a quick choreography, so we thought we could make it down this particular ‘rue’ in Paris. Passage Taillandiers.

 

I, particularly, found it a little uncomfortable due to the fact that I wasn’t carrying the proper equipment for such a task, but in the end, we managed to have a cool, smooth session. 

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The activity was carried out in Olaya Herrera neighborhood, the biggest in the city of Cartagena, Colombia, also storing extreme poverty over several areas. The intention was to conduct a pilot test of a dane workshop related to the project.

We had the collaboration of Huellas del Mar Foundation (Xiomara Monroy – Cedrick Contrera). The dancers, part of the iDp project, are Carolina Orozco and Greg García.

It was a special moment where we were able to share with the community part of the process we’ve been working on these last 3 years. 

 

‘What’s Beyond Dance’ marks the first exhibition by insightDproject. It took place in the city of Cartagena, Colombia on August 30th, 2018. We’d like to thank to the Alianza Francesa Cartagena de Indias for this opportunity to share part of the process. 

 

Also, we’d like to thank all the people (Dancers, choreographers, producers, consultants, musicians, coaches) involved with the project, and the ones who showed up on this special day for making this possible. 

 

One step at the time. Dance helps to change lives!

It was a 2-years-in-the-making video; an amazing experience. Days waking up early, getting to know amazing people, dancers, locations and cultures. Here’s the outcome of an amazing journey.

 

Dancers

– Gladia Marchetti (Italy). Location: Paris, France.

– Carolina Orozco (Colombia). Location: Cartagena, Colombia.

– Ofelia Omoyele Balogun (Italy). Location: London, United Kingdom.

– Robert Prein (Netherlands). Location: Amsterdam, Netherlands.

– Annaloes Van Schuppen (Netherlands). Location: Amsterdam, Netherlands.

– Maurice Causey (United States). Location: Amsterdam, Netherlands.

 

Assistant Producers

– Cécile Jaouen

– Glenn Westphal

Greg, Darlyn & Ronald

Contemporary Dancers

It took us over a week to set it all, get the right spot, check on every detail of the choreography. The first day we shot, the energy was high because of the outcome we were having; the next day, when the second shooting session was in progress, we were all disconnected because we decided to use another location, I guess due to this the vibe was much different than the first day. By the time we finished the production day, early in the morning, we felt that we had to make some arrangements to feel the vibe we were experiencing the day before.

 

So the decision was to shoot all the performance on the bridge. What Greg, Darlyn and Ronald did, was to get back to the bridge spot that very same night, under the drizzle, after their working day and they adapted the choreography to the reduced space. The next morning (5:40AM), they were on time, excited and ready to call it a wrap. This video is the result of committed and passionate dancers giving it all to express what their bodies claim to feel. 

 

Hat off for these amazing perfomers.