As someone that stumbled into the Milwaukee dance photography scene, my clients often are people I’ve danced with before. I met Karlies, Panadanza’s founder and fearless leader, during an aerial dance class my 4th year of college. She’s been a pillar of strength within the Milwaukee dance community, promoting not only latin dance, but acceptance. She knows her fellow dancers are queens and teaches them to empower and embrace their uniqueness. I respect her a lot but have never had the chance to photograph her or her ladies before – usually I’m running around between gigs and she’s busy being a lady boss.
Luckily, our calendars aligned and I was able to execute some images of her troupe on an individual and group level. I photographed the group in various formations with Karlie’s watchful eye on the ladies’ form (point those toes, hand styling just so, etc) as well as some individual shots of the Panadanza dancers that displayed a bit more of their own personalities.
It was great working with them and producing images that are more of a studio level than performance, which is something I enjoy as well. Hopefully I’ll catch a show of theirs soon! Check out Karlies’s Panadanza latin dance group or their upcoming shows here. Say hello!
