Sylvie Guillem, prima ballerina, takes her ballet class in a full-length black raincoat. Or at least she did the day I had a cheeky peek through the Royal Opera House studio windows in London’s Covent Garden. As a well groomed ballet student of barely 16, fragile torso neatly encased in a baby blue leotard, I was baffled. After asking one of the more worldly senior students, I was told that this was her signature ‘look’. Just one of her eccentricities that give her that undeniable mystique. The thick cotton and polyester masked those dangerous legs, her messy hair fell loosely around her delicate face. With every tendu, out would shoot a ragged leg warmer. With every develope a sinewy leg slid from the folds of the fabric. On this day, my concept of the ‘ballerina’ was somewhat shattered. Sylvie was not the glamazon I had expected.

When I’m asked what I do for a living and reply ‘I’m a ballet dancer’, the reaction is usually one of doe-eyed admiration. People begin to wax lyrical about how glamorous it must be. Perhaps their brains conjure up images of delicate girls with their hair in chignons and perfect pairs of shiny ballet slippers. It’s no wonder most people we meet get a shock when all of us aren’t angelic and softly spoken, but mature and career driven, and with their eye on the sartorial pulse. The ties between fashion and the theatre have been going on for over a hundred years. As the 1903 magazine Dry Goods Economist wrote: “Does not the sight of the dainty show girl instill in the women of every city and town the desire to be as well dressed and bewitching as her sister on the other side of the footlights?” . The iconic Degas paintings of young girls in ballet class wearing frothy white skirts neatly tied around the waist with a big blue sash have been impressed into society, therefore prompting the public to believe that ballet is terribly old fashioned. Place one of The Australian Ballet’s sculpted bodies next to one of Degas’ voluptuous portrayals of a ballet dancer and it is clear why the evolution towards skin tight, breathable fabrics has happened. Read the rest of this entry »

As The Australian Ballet prepares to launch its 2010 season, we look back on 2009 and the images that defined our year. The 2009 ‘Elevation’ photo shoot was a collaboration between 3 Deep Design, photographer Tim Richardson, fashion designer Toni Maticevski and of course the dancers, who were superimposed over seas, skies, dissolving sunrises and mountainous peaks. We chatted to Tim, Toni and 3 Deep’s David Roennfeldt about capturing art in motion.

Did you know very much about ballet before you shot the company?
Tim Richardson: I had photographed The Australian Ballet’s Romeo and Juliet a few years back and had also known the 3 Deep guys for a while (since college). Dance in all its forms has always interested me. The discipline of the dancers – their ability to control their physiques – has always inspired me.

Toni Maticevski: I love the ballet. I have been to many performances. I don’t know too much about certain stories but have been learning more about the technique all the time.

David Roennfeldt: We had been working within the contemporary dance arena for four years prior to establishing the relationship with The Australian Ballet. We really immersed ourselves into the culture of the dance landscape at that time which no doubt informed us about the landscape of dance within Australia. Our experience with The Australian Ballet over the past six years has meant that our understanding of ballet as an art form has expanded considerably and we are constantly learning, researching and experiencing ballet. Read the rest of this entry »