EVER wondered how all the wonderful live dance performances available these days were captured on film? Perhaps not, because hopefully you’ve been engrossed in the magic of the performance, not thinking about the mechanics of capturing it. You press play and there you are, with the best seats in the house, watching your favourite dance company, or work, or performer thanks to an invisible crew of technicians, camera operators, switchers and directors who brought you the performance.
Their invisible work takes enormous organisation, creativity and expertise. When David McAllister first stepped into the broadcast truck to watch director Simon Francis working his magic, calling the cuts in real time shooting The Australian Ballet’s Swan Lake (Graeme Murphy), he exclaimed, “BRAVO!”
Even though the development of HD digital cameras and digital streaming have reduced costs, it’s still an expensive business. The Australian Ballet (TAB) budgets to capture one or two performances a year, depending
