St. Petersburg is an all-kind-of-arts city. And, first of all, it is a city of Russian Ballet Heritage. Here lives an extremely talented Russian ballet photographer, "Soul in Feet" project founder and professional ballerina, Darian Volkova.
"Giving people an opportunity to see behind the scenes of ballet through ballerina's eyes - that's what my photography art is about. As a viewer, you can see just one side of ballet, the world of beauty and lightness but ballet is more than the world - it's the universe." As a professional dancer, Darian often travels around the world with her company, and as a ballet photographer, she doesn't forget to take stunning pictures during tours. Darian has shot in the theaters from Russia to Iceland.
"My last destination was France. It was unforgettable! I always enjoy it, to work with ballet dancers from another country. They have different ballet dance school but we are still soulmates."
At home Darian takes beautiful photos of prima ballerinas of Mariinsky and Mikhailovsky and other theaters. She likes one-to-one shooting. It's maybe similar to the myth about Pygmalion and Galatea she's kind of a sculptor, and dancer is her creation she tries to make alive.
More info: darianvolkova.com | Facebook | Instagram
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I don't think this represents sadness...it's passion and dedication
A sacrifice...For Art. This shows she feels it is worth it. I bet she is an excellent dancer.
It sure does give you an insight into ballet, and it hardship, but the end justifies the means!! They're poor feet takes such punishment! It seem so flawless as a patron, and joying it from the seats! They certainly work hard at it!!
It is hard to create the illusion of flying and being weightless that ballet dancers portray. This shows the strength that it really takes as well as the pain. Bravo!
After looking through all the pictures I have to wonder what captivates the soul of those in ballet that they would so painfully punish and disfigure their bodies. Are they so driven by the applause, notoriety, beauty? I don't understand.
Passion isn't something you can really put into words. A love of dance can't be contained by any spoken language. To dance is to be set free. Sometimes dance is the only way to express what one is feeling. I"m not speaking for anyone but myself. I'm barely an intermediate ballet dancer, but that's what I feel in my soul when I think of dancing. Dancing is freedom.
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Wow, now, I can nolonger watch ballerinas. What damage they do to their feet for this sport
Everytime someone says that ballet is lame, too "girly" or anything demeaning, they should show this photo. Then they'll realize: it's passion, it's pain, it's effort and not something simply done.
It's a wonder they have any toenails left at all. :-( It's a wonder they have any toenails left at all. :-(
For anyone wondering, she most likely has Joint Hypermobility Syndrome, a lot of ballet dancers and gymnasts do due to the extra flexibility given to joints. She also has a the best part of a lifetime of very dedicated training, which mayy be why she's as flexible as she is, but yes, JBS can be a very painful condition if the muscles aren't strong enough to compensate for the ligaments and tendons being too loose- bones start grinding together dislocations and slipped disks are common too.
It's good to see the reality behind the image,ballet is not just long arms and grace,the dancer's body gets so much pain over the years to perform all these moves,in my opinion it's too much.
The amount of hours she had to spend on achieving such a flexible pose payed off perfectly
Cant we just enjoy the damn pictures ? If you want to be good, real good, in anything (..) you need to work hard -blood sweath and tears.
What a beautiful photo, her tutu looks like it's made of feathers.
I've also noticed, after looking at all the pictures, that everyone is talking about the women, and what they go through. Yet when it's a man in the picture, they say things like: So strong....So powerful....etc. They go through the same training, and put their bodies through the same pain as the women do. Why are people not recognizing this??
What I think is basically awful is that there have been NO technical advances in the shoes whatsoever. NONE. The dancers, particularly those who dance in pointe shoes, are dancing on cardboard and cloth. It's c**p. There is no excuse for it, either.
there are things such as 'ouchie pouchies' which you can wear in your pointe shoes you can also use lambs wool however professional dancers do not usually or are not allowed to use this. personally I prefer to wear my point shoes without any support as I feel i can feel my feet better and control my body easier.
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the pict tells pain. we taste the their hurt as a sweet candy. just now i know their sacrifice to perform & entertain. Thumbs up.
Really great work, congratulations. If you want to promote it on the photography blog (blog.jmleclercq.com), contact me. It's totally free.
Wow. The pain they must go through for the enjoyment of others, who ever would had thought something so beautiful could be so devastating.
All I can think about is consumption ..the pain they must go through for the perfect leap... definition of of "beauty" these dancers dedicate their lives, bodies and souls for us to enjoy.. it is sooo beautiful.. it.. hurts....
This is so sad, we should feel sorry for them, but then again it is free will, their own choice. We should also feel sorry for the Chinese woman whoes feet get broken and bind up just to have small feet. What c**p that is.
sadly, i know all of this to be true. all of my friends are dancers, i was a gymnast, and my mother was a dancer
I've heard the toes/feet are damaged horribly, it's hard to believe people damage their body for an art form, regardless of how beautiful it may look to onlookers
Ballet -- masochism set to music. The human toes were not meant to bear the weight of the entire body. The turnout destroys the hip joints, and the entire body pays the price for starvation dieting.
What I think is basically awful is that there have been NO technical advances in the shoes whatsoever. NONE. The dancers, particularly those who dance in pointe shoes, are dancing on cardboard and cloth. It's c**p. There is no excuse for it, either.
there are things such as 'ouchie pouchies' which you can wear in your pointe shoes you can also use lambs wool however professional dancers do not usually or are not allowed to use this. personally I prefer to wear my point shoes without any support as I feel i can feel my feet better and control my body easier.
Load More Replies... the pict tells pain. we taste the their hurt as a sweet candy. just now i know their sacrifice to perform & entertain. Thumbs up.
Really great work, congratulations. If you want to promote it on the photography blog (blog.jmleclercq.com), contact me. It's totally free.
Wow. The pain they must go through for the enjoyment of others, who ever would had thought something so beautiful could be so devastating.
All I can think about is consumption ..the pain they must go through for the perfect leap... definition of of "beauty" these dancers dedicate their lives, bodies and souls for us to enjoy.. it is sooo beautiful.. it.. hurts....
This is so sad, we should feel sorry for them, but then again it is free will, their own choice. We should also feel sorry for the Chinese woman whoes feet get broken and bind up just to have small feet. What c**p that is.
sadly, i know all of this to be true. all of my friends are dancers, i was a gymnast, and my mother was a dancer
I've heard the toes/feet are damaged horribly, it's hard to believe people damage their body for an art form, regardless of how beautiful it may look to onlookers
Ballet -- masochism set to music. The human toes were not meant to bear the weight of the entire body. The turnout destroys the hip joints, and the entire body pays the price for starvation dieting.
