SKYPE Special: Dancers & Dogs Gives ‘Photo Op’ a Different Meaning

It's almost better than being on the red carpet posing for every paparazzo trying to get that perfect shot. A photography duo from St. Louis, Missouri defines a new meaning of "photo opportunity" with professional dancers and furry friends.

Teaming together as a husband and wife, Kelly and Ian Kreidich are the photographers for the St. Louis Ballet. A portfolio of their dance photography consists of students and traveling to locations like Chicago, Cuba, San Diego and more places to capture dancers. According to Kelly, Dancers and Dogs was only a random idea. She brought the idea to her husband Ian, and thought it would be fun to combine dancers dancing with dogs. Kelly kept her vision clear. The photography had to be clean and modern looking. Although the plan sounded strange, Kelly and Ian agreed to go along with it to see how it turns out.

In the beginning of Dancers and Dogs, the couple preferred to work professional dancers they were familiar with, who were all mainly a part of the St. Louis Ballet. During this stage, working with professional dancers that the photography couple already knows is easier; especially factoring in dogs. When everyone is on set, the dogs lead the way. The dancers have to skilled enough to handle everything that either Kelly or Ian desires of them in the shoot. The next step is to find dancers they have never worked with before.

A big project they are working on right now is ‘100 Dancers and Dogs.’ So far, the creators have photographed between fifteen and twenty dancers and dogs. In that number, they have worked with only female dancers from the St. Louis Ballet, and now they are moving on to the males. After the males are involved, Kelly and Ian plans to push forward with capturing photos of dancers and dogs in other genres of dance.

The team has received interest from dancers wanting to participate in photoshoots from all across the country. Dancers and Dogs is expecting to expand to different companies to achieve their current goal.