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Powerful Backstage Photos Of Ballet Dancers Through Eyes Of Russian Ballerina
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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
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 crap. 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.
Men have jacked up feet too. It's not the shoes. It's the dance.
I totally agree. I was a ballet dancer in my younger days and fought with trying to get comfortable in my point shoes. I tried everything. Finally found what was called Bunnies. I feel so much for these beautiful dancers still fighting with that problem. Bless them.
Every young dancer should see these photos.
It is what we all seek in one way or another It portrays Agony and Estacy. We are the authors of our lives.
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 crap. 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.
Men have jacked up feet too. It's not the shoes. It's the dance.