i was lucky enough to work with the talented photographer Lar Rattray on designing her new website, and in the process of sorting through & curating all her photographs i fell in love with this story that she did about ballerinas at the Cape Town City Ballet. i asked Lar for a bit of background about the Swans. you can see the entire story here.
I know I’m not alone in saying that I’ve always been drawn to what happens ‘behind the velvet curtain’. It’s one of those inexplicable childlike fascinations… so I literally leapt at the chance to go backstage with a friend who was dancing for Cape Town City Ballet at the time. This was years ago, I was fresh out of art school and had to borrow a camera. The dance company was in the final throes of rehearsals before their opening of Swan Lake… and for days I hid in the wings amidst a sea of quiet chaos and sweat, enchanted by these weightless beings. Their pure disregard for inhibition was bewitching; but their raw stamina, nothing short of astonishing. I will never forget the seamless transition between the animal like exhaustion I witnessed backstage, to the seemingly effortless and untiring grace seen by the audience onstage.
17 Comments
RT @miss_moss: Swans: http://t.co/kLPNlSDBsk – behind the scenes at the Cape Town City Ballet by Lar Rattray. http://t.co/KmdFjdSAt8
Amazing work
This is gorgeous ! Thanks a lot for sharing !
Oh my <3
Stunning pictures!
A.
Blog: A Beautiful Little Fool
Wow. Absolutely stunning! I quit ballet when I was 17, so just around the age when I would’ve started to look for professional employment or internships with a company. I think it’s what I regret most in life. But these photos really refreshed me. Thank you so much for sharing!
beautiful, thank you for sharing these
so good!
Goooorgeous….
wow I love these pictures
Valentina
http://valentinaduracinsky.blogspot.com/
amazing! so beautiful!
Absolutely beautiful, wow.
I ADORE ballerinas. Their effortless elegance inspires me so much in my work!
Stunning photographs!
Isabella
These images reminded me of the reasons why I love photography! It is beautiful…swoon
Love this photos!!!
Esther
these images remind me of degas’s paintings. thanks for sharing.
I cannot get over how beautiful these photos are. Swan Lake is my absolute fave!
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This is so lovely! I am a dancer with Boston Ballet and we are currently performing Swan Lake as well! I just wrote about it on my blog Tutus&Tea if you want to pop over to take a peak.. I love these images! So honest and eloquent…