When I was 21, I went to the ballet in Paris. It was a last minute decision between my traveling partner and I, we had purchased tickets for the balcony and it definitely stretched the backpacking budget. We were already standing in front of the Palais Garnier and the glory and opulence of what ensued was beyond my wildest dreams the moment we stepped inside the building. The hall itself was so decadent, full of rich red fabrics and trimmed in gold. I felt ridiculous sitting in my plush, velvet Victorian chair wearing wrinkled clothes I picked out of my backpack that may not have been washed in some time. But the two of us sat, in silence, just taking it all in.
I sat riveted for what felt like an eternity and witnessed some of the most beautiful dance I have ever seen. I couldn’t tell you what ballet it was that we saw. I couldn’t even tell you what the story was about. All I can say was that it was so beautiful, I cried at the end.
With the introduction of Black Swan last year, I noticed a lot of ballet inspired photo shoots popping up all over the place including some incredible collections focused on ballerinas ~ The New York Ballerina Project by Dane Shitagi (actually spanning the course of 8 years, so this pre-dates Black Swan) and A Ballet Affair by fellow Vancouver photographer, Sherry Lu. I am sure there are lots of other photography projects out there featuring ballet dancers, because, well, they are just amazing! All those years of training and dedication to create such beautiful and graceful movement ~ I greatly admire it when I look at how I clump around on this green earth.
With the memory of the Paris Ballet in mind and all of these lovely ballet shoots cropping up, I too, began to feel inspired. I wanted to photograph a dancer as well. Enter Hannah.
I have a lovely friend in town who owns La Petite Maison Design and Decor in Smithers, Kate, and her daughter does dance. A lot of dance. All kinds of dance. But I really wanted to focus on en pointe because I just love the gracefulness of it. So we got together one night and did just that. And threw in a pretty little field in a sunshower, just because the light was just so. And then that rainbow showed up. Perfection.
A big thank you to Caroline of Salt Boutique for the coral jersey dress and the filmy shirt-dress ~ they were perfect for the mood and feel of the session.
Enjoy and happy BC Day!
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