Filming Juilliard’s New Dances Program | Producing Virtual Events

At the start of 2021 we were hired by Juilliard to film, edit, and produce a tradition that has been happening since 2002: the school’s New Dances program.

New Dances features each class of students in a new work made exclusively for them by a well-known choreographer.

This year, the four world premieres for Juilliard’s New Dances Program were Tiler Peck, Sonya Tayeh, Bobbi Jene Smith, and Matthew Neenan.

When we were shooting, we had to abide by extremely strict COVID protocols.

Because this was back in February/March when the world was still trying to figure out how to safely roll out the brand new vaccine, the dancers rehearsed in bubbles, and we filmed over a period of 4 days.

Matthew Neenan’s piece choreographed for Juilliard’s New Dances Program; photo Christopher Duggan

Throughout the process, my director, Ashli Bickford along with myself and my team worked with each of the choreographers to record their work in different sections.

A lot of this had to do with the COVID protocols, but I’m pleased with the way we were able to create more of a “dance film” look to each piece.

Much of our editing process was figuring out how to blend different moments together to make a full virtual show.

We took copious amounts of notes so we understood each choreographer’s vision.

What’s important to Tiler Peck may not necessarily be as important to Bobbi Jene Smith… and that’s something that makes editing one of my favorite things to do.

This truly was one of those heartwarming moments during a really uncertain time.

NSP TEAM FOR JUILLIARD’S NEW DANCES:

Producer/Videographer: Nel Shelby
Assistant Producer/Director/Editor: Ashli Bickford
Videographers: Cody Buesing, Caroline Haidet, Nan Melville, and Nate Reininga
Photographer: Christopher Duggan
Project Manager: Cherylynn Tsushima
Sound Designer: Christopher Marc