Dobbs Ferry Photographer to be Featured in ‘Grace in Motion’

Dobbs Ferry resident Ellen Crane will be one of five photographers featured in the upcoming exhibition “Grace in Motion: Photographing Dance” at ArtsWestchester in White Plains.

The exhibit will be on view from Jan. 10 to Jan. 25.

“Westchester is home to several prominent dance companies, award-winning choreographers, and renowned photographers,” ArtsWestchester CEO Janet Langsam said. “Grace in Motion brings two vibrant artistic communities together – dance and the visual arts – in a collaborative effort that demonstrates the mastery of both.”

A ballerina in the 1980s, Crane found that she enjoyed watching and analyzing movement as much as dancing. After moving to New York City to further her dance career, she eventually entered the Gallatin School at New York University to pursue her interest in photography. An accidental change in her camera’s shutter speed during a college assignment resulted in her first motion study: a photographic method she has continued to pursue as a way to convey the expression and mystery of dance.

Crane has worked with renowned dance photographer Lois Greenfield and covered dance as a freelance photographer for publications including The New York Times, The Village Voice, New York Magazine and Dance Magazine. Her images of students and faculty at The School of American Ballet, an affiliate of The New York City Ballet, have been exhibited at Lincoln Center.

For more information about Crane and to see her work, visit here website here.

Joining Crane at Grace in Motion will be the following:

• As a photographer on assignment for National Geographic, New York resident Ira Block has witnessed traditional performances from around the globe, including those by Japanese and Native American dancers. His work presents dance as an art form that unifies cultures.
• Tracy Allan, whose studio is based in Yonkers, will feature photographs and slow- motion videos of Alvin Ailey troop members, documenting the physicality and athleticism of contemporary dancers.
• Stephanie Berger, of Piermont, and Mark Sadan, of Ossining, immortalize the beauty of ballet with sensitivity to the emotive quality and sculptural lines in dancers’ performances.

Grace in Motion will be a vast collection of photographs of studio and live performances will be featured, highlighting dancers and companies from around the world. For more information, visit: www.artsw.org/grace.