FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions:
- Do I have to be a professional performer to participate? No. If you dance, then you are welcome to be photographed. It does not matter if your dancing is performance or social, professional or just for fun. Come show us how you move.
- I am under 18 years old. Can I be a part of this? Yes. However, you will need a parent to accompany you to the shoot and sign your model release.
- Can I participate if I am pregnant, disabled, etc? Yes. You are invited to move however you want to. If you might have difficulties accessing the space where we are hosting the photo session, please let us know and we’ll figure it out.
- Can you come photograph our dance event? JJ loves documenting performances, but for the purposes of this project, we’re asking that you come to us for one of our photo sessions. That allows us to include more people without our having to choose whose performance we go to, and which one we miss. That also allows us to focus on the dancers all in similar photographic settings, so that there isn’t a difference between one dance group that might have access to a nicer space, or more lighting equipment. This is all about how you move. You are however welcome to talk to JJ about photographing your event separately, but that will be separate from this project.
- What will these photo sessions be like? We’re still working out the exact specifics, but here’s what we have in mind: You will be asked to arrive at least fifteen minutes before your timeslot. You will be greeted as you enter, and asked to fill out a model release and registration form. There will be an area with water, and hopefully some other snacks. This will be a good chance to meet dancers from other facets of the Philadelphia dance community that you may not be familiar with, either before or after your turn dancing. There will be a space to warm up and stretch in before your turn. Once in the photo area, there will be no audience, only JJ with a camera, an assistant to help with tech and logistics, and possibly James sketching a little bit for his sculptures. You’ll have about ten minutes to show us how you move. This may sound a little bit like an audition, but there is no pressure, because everybody will be chosen. You are welcome to either perform a prepared piece, or improvise. It would be helpful if you planned on doing whatever you do twice (so 4 minutes or so maximum, and then repeated) so that JJ can get to know your movements and photograph them a different way on the second pass if necessary.
- I do many different types of dance. Should I be ready to do all of them? All types of dance are welcome, but for the purposes of making the photo session go smoothly, please plan on doing just one. As the project progresses, there will hopefully be further opportunities for you to come and show us other types of movement.
- How can I bring music to dance to? We will have a CD/Tape player available, and if you would like to plug into a digital music player, a standard mini-audio connection will be available. If you bring a CD, please make sure that you know which track you want to hear. If bringing a tape or mp3 player, please make sure that it is cued to the right point so that our assistant only has to hit “play.” (Of course ou do not necessarily need to bring music if you are comfortable dancing in silence.)
- I usually dance with a live music accompanist. Can I bring them? Yes, provided that they can walk in and out the door without needing setup time. A single drum or guitar should be no problem. A large drum kit or a piano might be more problematic, and cannot be accommodated for our preliminary sessions. Please ask your accompanist to stay close to you so that they don’t slow down your start time.
- What kind of floor will the dance space have? This will depend on the venue, so please check the announcements for venue specifics. Please let us know if your dance will affect or be affected by the floor. If you are doing a percussive dance that might damage a hardwood floor, please tell us. If you would be injured by doing your dance on a concrete one, please tell us as well.
- How much physical space will I have to dance in? This will vary from venue to venue. To be safe, you should plan on being able to dance in a relatively small space, but when sessions are held in larger theater type spaces, more room may be available. We will post as much information about each venue as possible as the shoots approach.
- My type of movement requires a parter. Can I bring them? Yes. Please make sure that you let us know and both show up for your session together.
- My type of movement requires a large group. (Soul Line Dancing, Ceili Dancing, etc) - how do we do that? With current constraints, we’re focusing on individual’s movements, but further down the line we hope to access some larger space and hold specific shoots for these large group type dances. Please have each of your interested dancers register individually.
- What should I wear? My dancing requires a costume. Are changing facilities available? You may wear whatever you would like to be photographed in. Please arrive dressed, ready for your session if at all possible. Facilities may vary depending on the shoot location, but it’s best to assume no changing room is available. If you need to change on site, please come even earlier to allow time for it. If your type of dance requires a costume that might have trouble fitting through a doorway however, please let us know.
- My dancing requires certain props (hoops, sticks, drums)- can I bring them? Yes, but please let us know what you are bringing if it is longer than four feet long, or is something that you cannot easily move on your own. Dancing with fire cannot happen at our preliminary shoots, but may be an option for a future specific shoot with appropriate precautions.
- My dancing requires specific locations or lighting. Can you provide this? Right now, the constraints of the project are keeping us to a simple studio/theater setup, so that we can put the emphasis of the movement of the many dancers that we will be capturing.
- How will we see the images afterwards? The entire take of photographs will be posted online for you to browse through. You will be welcome to download them, email them to friends or family, post them to other websites etc. From these, you can chose one to receive as a higher resolution version for personal print use, which will be sent to you via email. We’re still figuring out how exactly we’ll share the images with people who do not use email.
- I know dancers who do not use the internet often (or at all). How can they participate? For our preliminary sessions, we are primarily using the internet for organization. Once funded, we will have a dedicated phone number for people to use if they cannot use the online forms. In the meanwhile, if you know such a person, please extend the invitation to them via word of mouth, and help be their liaison to us.
- What about dancers who don’t speak/read English? How can they participate? Our goal is to translate our invitation into as many languages as possible and to make it easy for anyone to participate in this project. Dance and Photography are universal languages, so written and spoken words should not prevent anyone from participating. For now, JJ is fluent in French and conversational in Spanish. If you can suggest any organizations that could help us involve more dancers who might not be comfortable with English, please let us know. We would also greatly welcome your help if you can translate materials or interpret during a shoot.
- What if someone does not want their face to be shown? We recognize that there are dancers out there who may not want to have their face on the internet or projected on the wall of a SEPTA station. If this is the case, let us know. If the dancer still would like to share their movements with us, we may be able to organize a photo session where the dancers are silhouetted, or where faces are cropped or blurred beyond recognition.
- Will there be future shoots? Yes, we hope so! These first two preliminary sessions are tests, but the goal is to expand this to a broad series of citywide events.
- Can I participate more than once? Hopefully yes, once we’ve moved on to the second phase of the project.
- Is there a limit to the number of participants? The goal is to include as many people as possible, but of course timing and funding constraints will impose some sort of limit. The best way that you can help this happen is to volunteer time or donate resources to further the project!
- Will everyone be represented in the final product? We can’t offer any guarantees, but we hope so- that’s kind of the whole idea!
- I have another question that hasn’t been answered here. Please email info@howphillymoves.org and we’d be happy to answer it.