The Verb Ballet Honors the Shakers

Cleveland's Verb Ballet honors the Shakers.

I had the honor of photographing Cleveland’s Verb Ballet as they rehearsed for a performance at St. Ignatius High School’s Breen Center for the Performing Arts.  This dance honored the Shakers, and was visually stunning!

Shooting the ballet is a photographic challenge.  It usually requires high ISOs in order to use shutter speeds needed to freeze the action, while at the same time exposures that do not allow the highlights, or whites, in the scene to lose detail.  It’s often a balancing act while trying to deal with dark backgrounds and very bright stage lighting.  The costumes in this dance number were a little more subdued than some of the others having white and black costumes, making it somewhat easier to balance.