We’re big fans of the talented people behind WeLevitate (they’re even contributors to WOD Magazine!), and we are beyond excited that they’re taking over the World of Dance Instagram this weekend with photos from the first ever World of Dance x WeLevitate meet-up. To celebrate we caught up with Erick Urgiles, to hear about what went into the collaboration, and what we can expect next. Why World of Dance x We Levitate? Erick explains, "One of WeLevitate’s main goals is to promote creative diversity by challenging photographers to do what they haven’t done before and to break the mold of what people tell them “can't be done with a camera." From the birth of our WOD partnership, our goal has been to inspire both photographers and dancers to go out and collaborate with fellow artists and to search for ways they can elevate each other’s creativity, challenge each other and end up with a set of images that prove the dancer how beautiful his/her moves can be regardless of their background (hip hop, modern, ballet, breakdancing, etc.) and proves to the photographer that he/she isn’t limited by what gear he/she uses! Inclusiveness is definitely the name of our game!"Aiming to include photographers and dancers from all backgrounds, the goal was to find people who capitalize from different ways of expressing their respective art, Erick adds. Which lead to different representations of the same moment, “It was wonderful to see the different edits we received of images shot of the same dancer in the same setting, from two different photographers!” When it came to the day of the meet-up, it was filled with energy, Erick notes. “Everyone’s energy was super positive and creative! We all agreed that the very intimate creative setting where we matched one dancer and one photographer made us feel like we had to give all we had in a very limited time (each photographer had about 15/20 minutes per dancer).” His favorite photo from the day (featured above) was by Swapnil (@Ssatanssj) of Mathieu Forget and Candy Tong shot on the “Elevated Acre” on Wall Street. Head over to the World of Dance Instagram (be sure to check the stories for additional content) to follow along as WeLevitate adds more photos from the meet-up.

Want more? WeLevitate x World of Dance will continue to meet every 2 months. Are you a photographer or dancer who wants to collaborate? Use #WeLevitate and #WorldofDance for a chance to join our next meet and be part of our 6 dancer/6 photographer collaboration!

WeLevitate is a global community centered around non-photoshopped levitation, movement photography, and video. The WeLevitate team has partnered with World of Dance to inspire you to go out, collaborate, and elevate your dance photography. Share some of your favorite movement and levitation photography trough #WeLevitate and @WeLevitate on Instagram for a chance to be featured.