Fuse - Portland Dance Portrait

01/27/2017

I'm excited to share that the Fuse project has been selected for a solo exhibition at Walters Cultural Arts Center from April 3 to May 28, 2018!

In the meantime we continue to work on a few more ideas, including something for the rainy days. If you have a good idea for the project, let's hear!

11/18/2016

For the very obvious reason I have been wanting to do a Fuse shoot with trees. But I wasn't excited about the few ideas I had thought of. They all seemed too imposed or contrived. The photograph, after all, should be about the nature and our connection to it. The dancer element needs to fit into the scene, not to overtake it.

Then my perfect dancer for the tree shot came along: Peter Anthony Franc, a principal dancer from Oregon Ballet Theatre. He is a big outdoor fan and suggested a hike in Forest park for our shoot. We weren't blessed with glorious weather that day. It was gloomy and cold but that didn't bother Peter. Along the hike his love for nature was evident and contagious. He led me to this giant fallen tree trunk and we started shooting. At one point he said, "Can I lie down?" The moment he lay down and wrapped his arms around the tree, I sighed to myself: that's it.

"Hug" at Forest Park
Fuse - Portland Dance Portrait series with Peter Anthony Franc

11/15/2016

After a wonderful exhibit at the Multnomah Arts Center, the Fuse - Portland Dance Portrait project is back to work! This time we went hunting for used windows at the ReBuilding Center. The amazing Jenae Sinsanity and Dominic Eason from Meraki Duo Acrobatics starred as the supercharged patrons. ;-)

"Measure" at the ReBuilding Center
Fuse - Portland Dance Portrait Series

10/06/2016

The Fuse exhibit opens tomorrow! It is recommended by Willamette Week as one of "the Five Art Galleries We’re Most Excited to See." http://www.wweek.com/arts/visual-arts/2016/10/05/the-five-art-galleries-were-most-excited-to-see-at-first-thursday/

Emily, Gwen, Sadie and Suzanne, find yourself in Jennifer Rabin's beautiful words! :-)

In the highly stylized compositions, dancers hang upside down in a MAX car, contort themselves on cafe tables with coffee cups balanced on their heads, and hang in midair over the Willamette Valley like birds riding a thermal.

09/22/2016

Mark your calendar. Fuse - Portland Dance Portrait will have an exhibit at Multnomah Arts Center Gallery from Oct 7 to Oct 25. You will get to see a complete collection of Fuse work to date in large 20x30 installation. Join us at the opening reception 7-9pm on Oct 7 to meet the dancers and hear behind-the-scene stories!
https://www.facebook.com/events/1597669227201058/

08/05/2016

The Fuse project resumed after a little summer break. In the latest shoot we looked for inspiration in Portlandians' backyard. What did we find? ;-)

"Chicken Coop" at Heather's house
Fuse - Portland Dance Portrait series with Andrea Larreta and Greta Goodwind. Andrea dances with Wild Rumpus Dance Co and Polaris Dance Theatre.

© Jingzi Zhao

06/10/2016

"Hoops & wheels" at Upcycles
Fuse - Portland Dance Portrait series with Leah Baker.

Thanks Kai Druzdzel for helping us with the shoot and the space!

06/03/2016

"A Thrill Ride" at Rose Festival Cityfair - Waterfront Park
Fuse - Portland Dance Portrait series with Viktor Usov and Nicholas Petrich and NW Dance Project.

Thanks Claude Laviano for assisting in lighting.

06/02/2016

"Farm girls" at Sauvie Island Farms
Fuse - Portland Dance Portrait series with Walker Guinnee and Hannah Madans from Polaris Dance Theatre

05/23/2016

"Jazzing up" in old town
Fuse - Portland Dance Portrait series with Nicholas Petrich
Thanks Nicholas for your Gene Kelley spirits :-) and Katharine Chen for assisting in lighting.

05/09/2016

"Digging" at antique wonderland, Grand Marketplace
Fuse - Portland Dance Portrait series with Amica Hunter and David Cantor

Many thanks to Grand Marketplace for collaborating with us.

Jingzi Zhao