THE BALLERINA PROJECT
One of my favorite NYC sights is seeing dancers warming up in the subway…have you experienced it? You’re waiting for the train and all of a sudden the person standing next to you starts to do a plie. There’s just something about that kind of beauty against a urban backdrop.
Which is why I’m equally fascinated with a photo series that’s been around for sometime now, The Ballerina Project. It’s an ongoing project by Dane Shitagi that depicts ballerinas amongst organic backdrops.
The project has been going steady for 10+ years in New York and now it’s trying to move on to a new phase – mini documentaries to compliment the photographs. Dane hope these will give new audiences a more complete and accurate representative of ballet to help sustain its future.
**STORY was originally written for ARTNERDNY
Dahil ang magaling magsaing ay may katapat na saging, kaya lagi kang manalangin upang hindi ka kapusin at tuluyan kang sambahin ng nasa salamin.
”A sweet-looking Japanese girl who, one day, decided to take self-portraits..of herself levitating. She can be spotted in and around Tokyo, equipped with her SLR and her self-timer. When she feels the moment strike, she presses the shutter button down and then, quite literally, “jumps” into place. What I love most about her shots is that they don’t feel forced. Natsumi has a way of making us feel as though she naturally levitates throughout life. When I asked her how others react to her jumping around Tokyo, here is a funny story that she shared. “One day, when I was jumping at a famous sightseeing spot in western Tokyo, workers at a souvenir shop were frightened by how I was jumping. They were whispering things like ‘Is the girl mentally ill’ and ‘Do we need to call the police?’ “So I stopped jumping and apologized to them by saying, ‘I am taking jumping photos for my wedding party’s slide show.’ Their faces turned bright red, and they said things like ‘Oh dear!’ and ‘Congratulations!’ and even ‘Keep jumping!’
