Nine Sinatra Songs by Twyla Tharp

In October, I had the opportunity to photograph Twyla Tharp’s work at New York City Center. It was fantastic!

The program included two of her most famous works, In the Upper Room and Nine Sinatra Songs.

In the Upper Room by Twyla Tharp

In the Upper Room was athletic, explosive, and exciting. The dancers wore both pointe shoes and sneakers.

Jacquelin Harris and James Gilmer in Nine Sinatra Songs by Twyla Tharp

Nine Sinatra Songs is more of a jazzy piece and really showcases the individuality of each artist on stage.

It was really exciting for me to photograph Tharp’s work not only because she is such an iconic part of the dance world, but because I get to see people like Lloyd Knight of Martha Graham Dance Company and Cassie Trenary of American Ballet Theatre dancing in different spaces – I typically photograph them on Vail Dance Festival’s stage in the summertime!

In the Upper Room by Twyla Tharp

It was a challenging show to photograph, with so much happening onstage all the time and a lot of haze onstage. But that challenge is really exciting to me, and after shooting the show twice, I felt confident with my delivery of photos.

I feel so lucky to be able to photograph such amazing dance artists and their work.