Ballet meets Photography. Daria Popova
I don't remember the day I met Dasha, it seems like we've known each other forever.
We have collaborated so many times together around different kind of creative projects where ballet meets photography.
It seems by consequences an evidence to share with you more about Dasha Popova, a friend, an incredible photographer from Saint Petersburg (Russia) and about the beauty she spread into this world.
She is not only professional and talented but also such a unique, positive and enthusiastic being ; a real ray of light. Our work together always happens in a joyful and dynamic atmosphere.
By the way, if you look for a photographer for your marriage, well think about her. Like a fairy, she has the natural skills to catch moments of magic !
Through photography, I can study my body, like a sculptor would analyze his works, while through dance, Dasha captures the world from another angle, a perspective that many find magical:
the Art of Ballet.
Today I want to share with you :
some of the fruits of our work,
the vision of ballet through Dasha's eyes
and my vision as a dancer.
It seems that our meeting was not a coincidence.
Our collaboration continued because we share a mutual passion for our art, a desire to explore beyond what we knew, and an openness to each other's visions.
I am the first dancer that Dasha photographs, and everyone knows, photographing ballet is not such a simple task.
We, ballet dancers, are very demanding about every detail and the angle from which the photograph is taken—whether it renders or not the beauty of proportions and lines.
An acquaintance once noticed in a fair and insightful way: "Ballet is a movement made of pauses", that are called in our vocabulary "arabesque", "attitude," "passé"...
The role of the photographer in this case, is to know these stops, or rather, these moments in apogee, and to literally catch them.
Every photographic project with Dasha is lived as an artistic exploration.
Like any experience, we give ourselves fully to one idea, and we go for it. It is not about appropriating anything that exists, but about meeting and letting ourselves go with the flow to try differently, which is the root of true Creation.
I can't say how successful or beautiful the result is; the result is often unexpected and unique: it has come to life.
Art is not meant to please (if the audience likes it, of course it's even better). I think art is brought into this world because there is no other way, it is the fruit of the incredible creative potential that we all have within us.
What I like in Dasha's photography is this softness, this poetic and romantic vision of the world, and this admiration for life: there is a lot of light and love.
Each individual, through his work, transmits a part of his soul and a part of his eyes.
When you look at the work of a photographer, you can see a part of his character, his being, his depth or on the contrary, his superficiality, his interest in details or not, etc...
For Daria, photography is "an opportunity to stop time and catch what quickly slips away in the bustle of changing times.
My photographs are about interaction with the world, people, and place.
In ballet, every movement speaks of the soul's desire for life, and it is for this desire that I love ballet so much."
Ballet being above all a visual art, photographic work allows, like a sculptor observing his sculpture, to visually experience your own body.
Photography captures the space of an instant—an image of this dancing movement. This image can be a revealer of the academicism (or not) of a movement, but also opens to the eyes the imprint of movement’s essence. It reveals intention, emotion, state of being, and beauty—not only external but internal, which hopefully transcends from the inside to the outside.
As dancers, we can have difficulty seeing ourselves with objective eyes: videos and photographs are excellent tools.
Each time I discover the results of a photographic project, I discover new facets of my dance, which offer then the possibility of introspective work (and maybe a little self-criticism).
“For me, beauty is a physical sensation, something we feel with our whole body. It is not the result of judgement. We do not arrive at it by way of rules. We either feel beauty or we don’t.”
Ballet cultivates an ideal of beauty and aspires to give inspiration. Thus, the dancer cultivates this harmony that appears through his body.
For me, there is something magical in photography, as in ballet.
Dancers learn to show the audience what they want to show and hide what they do not want to make visible.
There is an aspect of illusion created meticulously and the light, the stage decorations, the costumes, and the makeup all play a key role in creating this spectacle. In French, we call staging "mis en scene" which literally means "put in scene". Photography in this way is similar. A talented photographer has the mischievous skill to surprise and reveal an unexpected and unique vision of this scene.
Our cooperation with Dasha was done naturally because we both aspire to share the poetry of life through our Art.
Rediscovering this set of projects, I realize again and again how eternally beautiful, magical, pure and noble the art of ballet is.
More and more, ballet is restricted to a set of movements, revealing prodigious technique, but devoid of soul.
I hope that these photographic projects will see the light of day on a larger scale in the future. Furthermore, I will be very happy if they succeed in bringing to the audience the soul of Ballet.
You can discover more photos of Dasha's work on Instagram :
@dasha_popova_photo
The makeup is made by my dear and amazing Maria. On Instagram, you can find her :
@marusya_mariinsky_mua_88_
