Netta Yerushalmy’s Paramodernities at NYLA | Promotional Video
We made another promotional video for New York Live Arts!
Each season, we work closely with New York Live Arts to create promotional videos for their marketing purposes, and one of our latest videos is for Netta Yerushalmy’s Paramodernities.
We have filmed bits and pieces of Paramodernities at Jacob’s Pillow. Each installment is “a meditation on the different tracks taken by the modern tradition, in dance and beyond.” In the work, Netta does an unbelievable job deconstructing iconic works from choreographers like Alvin Ailey, George Balanchine and Bob Fosse. Her work critiques and honors the classics at the same time. My husband, Christopher, made creative portraits with Netta and a few of her dancers specifically for an exhibition in the Doris Duke Lobby at Jacob’s Pillow.
It was great that we had footage from Jacob’s Pillow to work from while creating this promotional video for Netta’s Live Arts show.
Editing this promo was a super fun (and fast!) process. Brittany, who had seen the show so many times, put together the first edit. Then, we sat together and spoke to Netta on the phone to get her feedback. It was very collaborative, which I love.
I am constantly reminded that editing is very similar to choreographing – cutting down, shaping, making choices, sculpting. This is what I live for and what I love to do!!!
Photo Credit: Paula Lobo
“When Nel asked me to shoot Netta’s Paramodernities at NYLA, I was very excited! I love Netta’s work and was blown away when I saw and filmed the Paramodernities premiere at Jacob’s Pillow last summer. The performance was 4 hours, which I knew would take some major stamina, but I was up for the challenge because this sort of scholarly work needs to be documented.
Amber and I had so much fun shooting. Since there were 2 intermissions, we swapped camera angles in between so we could experience the performance from different points of view! There is so much context to this work. I am grateful to have been able to see this performance a handful of times now, unpacking a new layer of information every time.”
“Paramodernities was a show that had a different format than a normal dance show with the mix of dance and onstage scholar research which created an incredibly thought provoking performance. The show was 4 hours long which took a lot of filming stamina to make it through but having the experience filming many performances in New York and at Jacob’s Pillow definitely helped this long shoot feel like a breeze.
Since the space was constantly changing with each different section of the performance it was important to make sure that the cameras were able to capture all of the changes and movement within space but also to make sure that they capture the importance of the performers interaction with the audience.”
Nel Shelby is Owner & Filmmaker for Nel Shelby Productions, her New York City-based company dedicated to dance videography and editing. Nel shares her mission to preserve and promote the art of dance with her husband, Christopher Duggan, a dance and wedding photographer. They collaborate on projects with dance companies of worldwide renown, up-and-coming choreographers, dance educators, dance schools and more. Nel is Video Producer at Jacob’s Pillow and Vail Dance Festival and is also the proud Director and Producer of PS DANCE! — a New York Emmy-nominated documentary about dance education in NYC’s public schools.