The Bermuda Festival: Ballet Black

This is the 39th year of The Bermuda Festival of The Performing Arts. Each year, they bring a wonderful collection of incredibly talented people to the island to perform. This year is no exception. I went to Pentatonix last week which was absolutely amazing! And tonight I am going to see Ballet Black. Here are a few photos from their rehearsal yesterday.

An important part of the festival is their schedule of outreach programmes. School students are invited to come and learn about the performers. They watch them in action, hear about how they started and see how dedicated they are to their craft. Today Ballet Black are hosting a master class with 37 lucky young dancers from various dance schools around the island. And I too will participate - if only for a while. I can't imagine I will be strong enough to endure the whole 90 minute class. But I am so excited to participate. And I'll take a few photos too...

There are still a few tickets left for tonight's 8:00pm performance and for Sunday's 2:30pm matinee - here are all the details...

http://www.bermudafestival.org/how-to-buy-tickets.asp

All Together at the Beach:

Elena and Langdon were married in Bermuda 5 years ago and live in Virginia. As Elena's sister Mona lives here, they visit Bermuda very often and suggested doing family photos this trip since their parents were also going to be here for this trip. 

Faezeh and Jahangir Behrouzi have lived in Brazil for 36 years and love spending time with their grand children. They are wonderfully hands-on; always playing with the kids and they love babysitting too. They'll be celebrating their 40th anniversary this month. 

Blythe and Mona have been married for 12 years. Their children Leyli, Anisa and Dylan are very close to their cousins Kiyan Jaden and Kayla Yasmin. Dylan and Kiyan in particular get along really well and miss each other terribly so they have a lot of "Skype" play dates and often ask to get on a plane to go visit each other. The families tend to see each other two or three times a year. Leyli loves babies and is always asking to hold Kayla and play with her. And Anisa loves playing with her little cousins too. 

They all love doing these family portraits every year so they can see how much the kids have changed. Here is a link to last year's shoot - and it is amazing how much the kids have changed.

Thank you all for a fun afternoon...

Home for the Holidays

The Gardner family had never had a formal photo shoot and as the girls are starting to build their own lives far away this seemed to be one of the best, and last chances to have them all together.  A similar gift from Judy’s family 25 years ago resulted in some precious black and white images.  

"We are grateful that Amanda was able to come on relatively short notice. She gave generously of her time and talent and was reassuring in her leadership. The shoot was at Woodhaven, our family property that has stunning woods, gardens and much family history.  The late afternoon winter light was a special opportunity. We had a good time together so the process itself was memorable and a gift."

Thank you all for being such willing subjects and open to everything I suggested. Photographing your family was truly a pleasure!