It’s the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts in Philadelphia. The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts is a large performing arts venue at 300 South Broad Street at the corner of Spruce Street, along the stretch known as the “Avenue of the Arts”, in Center City, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is owned and operated by Kimmel Center, Inc., which also manages the Academy of Music in Philadelphia, and, as of November 2016, the Merriam Theater. The center is named after philanthropist Sidney Kimmel.

I’ve been working on an ongoing series called Dancer/Place. It’s a series of nudes that explore the relationship between dancers and the cities they live in. I was in Philadelphia, working with BalletX on a new piece to the music of Amy Winehouse and Richard was one of the dancers in the piece. The management of the Kimmel Center was ever so gracious to allow us access in the wee hours of the morning to sneak in and get these images.

Richard Villaverde was born in Miami FL, and began dancing at the age of 13. He received most of his early ballet coaching from Maria Eugenia Lorenzo, trained at Dancetown, under the direction of Manuel and Lory Castro, and graduated from New World School of the Arts, under the direction of Daniel Lewis. In 2009, Richard won the national title of “Senior Male Outstanding Dancer” at New York City Dance Alliance, and he was also awarded a full scholarship to The University of the Arts in Philadelphia, PA, where he trained with Douglas Becker, Michael Sheridan, Ronen Koresh, Scott Jovovitch, and Christine Cox. In December 2011, Richard was selected to study abroad at La Biennale de Venezia for six months, under the direction of Ismael Ivo. While there he worked with world-renowned contemporary artists, and upon returning to the United States, he began his first season at BalletX. Since joining BalletX in 2012, Richard has been in over 30 world premieres by choreographers including Matthew Neenan, Nicolo Fonte, Jodie Gates, Trey McIntyre (that’s me!), Kevin O’Day, Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, and Cayetano Soto.

This was a very early shoot in my collaborations with dancers. It felt really bold and fun to have access to such a public space. And such a beautiful work of architecture. Richard was such an easy collaborator…partly because we had been working together in the studio and partly because he is fearless. I think this shoot in particular had a big impact on my photographs that came after.

“I loved taking those photos! I remember being nervous at first but once we started I felt pretty comfortable and enjoyed exploring that really incredible space. I look back at those photos now in 2021 and think, wow our bodies really are constantly changing. I feel like I look much different now.
I know one day I’m going to look back at those photos and be very happy I took them.”