melissa . a dancer’s soul.

January 2, 2012

Each one of us has our own voice, our own way of speaking. Dance is no different than this, except for the fact that instead of speaking with words, it speaks with movement. As I progressed more into my dancer’s soul series, there were still moments where I was wasn’t entirely sure where I was going with these series. What my voice was. All I knew is that I wanted to photograph dancers differently that what one normally sees when they think of dance photography. But as I photograph each dancer, the path becomes more and more clear.

Meet Melissa, a beautiful dancer who happens to be one of my dance instructors. We met when she took over the adult jazz class at the studio, and she and I hit it off. We gabbed like we were old friends. :) I told her about my dance project and immediately asked her if she would like to be a part of it.

Often when I go into these shoots, I don’t have a set idea of what is going to happen. The same happens for many of my other shoots – like with engagements and weddings, and etc. I may scout out locations to get a feel for the place and perhaps the light, but for the most part, I am winging it along the way. When something captures my fancy, I gravitate towards it. When it comes to shooting people, a lot of the factor not only comes with the location, but the people themselves. Shooting people is an art that requires connecting with people, and most importantly, authentically capturing them in the best way possible. And I don’t mean the perfectly posed portrait. I mean looking towards the best in them and saying: you are enough.

In this, it means making them comfortable and allowing them to be themselves and speak freely through not only their voices but their movement, their body language. That is not the easiest task in the world to do — a lot of times when a camera is pointed at someone, they will put up a “front,” pose, make a camera-worthy face and put their best foot forward. I am totally guilty of this myself! There is nothing wrong with that, but it’s not who they are deep down. And that is what I am interested in when I photograph people. The beauty that emanates from within. When people feel comfortable enough to let themselves go.

Coming back to dancers, there is one thing that I think happens with classically trained dancers — they tend to bury their own voice when they dance. Not everyone does this — the dancers that are truly captivating have the ability to let their own soul seep into their movement, but many dancers tend to shove this in the back corners of themselves because classically trained dancers are almost always told what to do. How to look. How perfect your line should be. No, that’s not good enough, keep pushing. That foot could be pointed just a little bit more. That leg could be extended just a little more. And even if it’s not necessarily coming from someone else, it will be coming internally — comparing themselves to others who can do all those things they can’t. It’s a dangerous thing, and causes one to put themselves aside to strive to be someone else (or a more perfect version of themselves) because they no longer think that they are enough. Like I’ve stated before, it is important for dancers to improve skills, but I also think it is important to not lose sight of who you are in that movement.

When Melissa and I first began shooting, I asked her to warm up and dance to a few songs while I snapped away. The beginning of a shoot is always the “getting to know you” phase where we feel each other out and begin to get comfortable around one another. About halfway through the shoot, I noticed that I felt more when I saw Melissa dancing with her upper body. When I saw her putting her energy through her upper half — it’s as if I felt her talking. Speaking. Her dancer’s soul coming straight on through. It was after that realization that I asked her to focus her energy on her upper half and from that point on I began to get really excited about the images because then I felt like I could see her. She was speaking to me. And that was enough.

I realized after this shoot that there is another dimension to these series that I did not consider until now. The idea that these shoots are giving dancers a platform to speak. Speak from their own voices. Not just something someone else choreographed. I want to hear them. I want them to come out so that they can reconnect with that thing that made them want to dance so badly in the first place years ago.  Sure, it can be connected with through improv dance as well, but I feel like there is something more vulnerable with having that photographed because it’s like you can see the layers and dimension and depth in a photo that you may not get otherwise save being right in front of them. Plus you can revisit that moment more & not only that, I feel like a photograph allows you to sit in a moment for longer than you might in any other way. In this – it’s scarier to be photographed doing something so vulnerable.

But the beauty you see in it is definitely second to none — save for being in that very moment yourself.

I have made it a goal of mine in 2012 to photograph at least one dancer every month for this project. Who knows where the path will take me, but I just know that each time I photograph a dancer, I gain a indispensable amount of insight that makes the shoots themselves just totally worth it. I feel like I am creating and working towards something very worthwhile here, and that gives me great, great joy . !

(If you know of any dancers that may be interested in this project, please have them contact me! mail at enpointephotography dot com)

past dancers: emily | tiffany

 

 

 

 

 

12 Responses to “melissa . a dancer’s soul.”

  1. Cecilia says:

    Susan, these are gorgeous! You captured the movement and spirit of Melissa so well! Absolutely beautiful!

  2. Daisy Varley says:

    Oh Susan…this is breathtakingly beautiful. The images + words speak with so much emotion + soul. This is my fav of your series.

  3. Andrea says:

    These are beautiful Susan, and your words well written. All together very lovely!

  4. Albert says:

    Beautiful job. just beautiful.

  5. Wow, Susan! These are completely unexpected and absolutely amazing. I just feel… transported. She is like a water nymph coming out to search the world. Incredible. I don’t know what I expected after talking to you about it but it certainly wasn’t this. The black and white photos just have me in awe.

  6. Susan! Yes, I expect nothing but incredible shots from you, but these are other worldly! Some are so haunting and ghost-like I couldn’t stop staring at them and believing they were real. You did a phenomenal job capturing Melissa’s movement and story.

    I want to be a dancer just so I could be part of this series.

  7. Jason Leith says:

    Susan! These are stunning! The images you have captured here are a huge upward shift from the one’s I got to see at Shannon’s. You are finding a very particular and beautiful voice in this subject and i really love it.

  8. Kristin says:

    I love the emotion and the connection with nature of these, dance, to me anyway, is so grounded in earth but also air and these have captured the flow of inspiration and the unique quality it communicates to this dancer in particular. These images and this project are spectacular! I can’t wait to see the next installment!

  9. Jasmine says:

    Magic, magic, magic. You are growing into this series: it’s changing you, you’re changing it. There is a morphing collaboration happening, between you, your dancers, and also something else—the viewers? The place? The moments? I don’t know. There is depth here that is hard to describe. I am so proud of what you are accomplishing… delving into the unknown and letting it *become*.

  10. giedre says:

    these photographs are beautiful! The raw energy you captured is breathtaking and i look forward to seeing more in the series!
    -giedre

  11. mel says:

    I really like how Melissa is moving as if she’s alone, dancing only for herself. That speaks a lot about you as a photographer, since you’re able to fade into the surroundings and allow the subject to be free to be herself. Can’t wait to see the rest of this series!

  12. Matt Ethan says:

    Love the idea behind this set… Looking forward to seeing others! :D