The thrill of movement
By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
10/17/2012 11:52
Mikhail Baryshnikov presents an exhibition of his photographs that feature numerous international artists.
baryshnikov photograph Photo: Courtesy
Throughout the course of his illustrious career in the limelight, Mikhail
Baryshnikov has collaborated with celebrated dance artists from a wide range of
movement genres. In recent years, he has been known to arrive at the dance
studio with a camera in tow.
Next week, the famed dancer and actor will
pay his third visit to Israel, opening an exhibition of his photos at the
Suzanne Dellal Centre in Tel Aviv entitled “Dance My Way,” with photos of
numerous international artists. The exhibition is open to the public and is free
of charge.
Although he is not giving interviews to the media, Baryshnikov
agreed to send us a few words describing his experience as a photographer:
“For
two decades I used a conventional 35mm camera and practiced traditional
landscapes, portraits and travel shots in primarily black and white. I made a
point of rejecting obvious opportunities to photograph dance, thinking the
results were boring and unnecessary. Then, going through some old books of dance
photography – notably Alexey Brodovitch’s Ballet and Paul Himmel’s 1954 Ballet
in Action – I discovered that abandoning the crystalline image in favor of
blurred edges and amorphous figures approximates the excitement of dance in
performances. Ilse Bing’s mesmerizing images of Can Can dancers at the Moulin
Rouge, as well as her photos of Balanchine’s Errante, and perhaps most
importantly, the recent images of Alexandra Beller in Dancer by Irving Penn were
further evidence that the thrill of movement can be captured without being
destroyed. Edwin Denby describes this process eloquently in the text
accompanying Brodovitch’s photographs.
‘…the blurred outline of the
dancer, assimilated to the general dim effect, registers as a metaphor of
motion. Sometimes the misty shape that joins successive points through
which the dancer’s body has passed astonishes you by the clarity of its graphic
design, and it illustrates the plastic continuity of dancing. Here and there the
contrast on a picture between blurred and clear outlines draws your eye to the
position of a still figure that on stage might have passed unnoticed in the
hubbub but that in the photograph reveals its momentary pathos.’
“So it was
possible.
“I am flattered to have been invited by the Suzanne Dellal
Centre to take part in this auction whose proceeds will help to provide
continued support to Israel’s vibrant dance community. The thought that
my photographs could help to further such a wonderful cause brings me immense
happiness.”
The photo exhibition runs Wednesday through October 27 at the
Suzanne Dellal Centre in Tel Aviv.