When fashion glossies dip into the world of dance

When Sylvie Guillem was approached by French Vogue to pose for the magazine’s iconic pages, the renegade ballerina – who acquired the epithet ‘Mademoiselle Non’ during her fiery spell at The Royal Ballet – took the reins. Early in her career, Guillem appeared in Vogue in a series of polished fashion shots by her partner, photographer Gilles Tapie, but felt they portrayed her as “a model, something I am not”. In 2001, she refuted the proverbial ‘diva’ tag by refusing make-up and airbrushing, posing instead for a series of stark self-portraits. The images – dramatic and incandescent – show Guillem dancing naked in a studio, her lithe, disciplined physique suspended in the air.

Ballet’s indelible influence on fashion – line, ethereal beauty and the tutu – extends to high-fashion glossies, where spreads have been devoted to dancers and, in turn, dance has inspired magazine content.

With their strong, willowy physiques, dancers make enviable clothes horses. British ballerina Darcey Bussell modeled regularly for Vogue throughout her career, effortlessly melding beauty and finesse, while The Royal Ballet Principal Artist Tamara Rojo appeared with fellow dancer Carlos Acosta in French Vogue’s May 2010 issue. Photographed by David Burton, the star duo appears in striking black and white under the headline ‘Les Amants Terribles’.

In Australia, Harper’s Bazaar captured the allure of the tutu and the theatre when, in 2005, the glossy featured Principal Artist Kirsty Martin creeping down a stage ladder in Akira Isogawa’s winsome design. Recently, dancers of The Australian Ballet vamped it up alongside Li Cunxin for Harper’s Bazaar’s whimsical ‘Ballet in Wonderland’ spread, inspired by the enduring magic of Disney’s fairytales.

Pictorials inspired by ballet – like Vogue Russia’s May issue shoot ‘Russia, Which is not Lost’, which paid homage to the drama and progressiveness of 20th century Russian ballet – are plentiful. Ballerina-turned-model Karlie Kloss is regularly snapped playing up her dancing chops. She limbered up for Chinese Vogue’s February spread ‘Perfect Sport’ and put her training to good use in French Vogue’s March 2009 ‘Coco Dancer’ spread – a nod to Coco Chanel’s involvement with the Ballets Russes. Her grace and skill were perhaps best captured in German Vogue’s beautiful 2008 editorial, ‘Pas de Deux’.