From Childhood Love, to Fashion Moment, Ballet Will Always Take Centre Stage for Me!

Having enjoyed a childhood full of leotards, ballet shoes and the only chance to wear make up all year at the annual show, when the time came to find an adult form of exercise I would enjoy (or risk slumping into middle age), it was to ballet I returned, with the eagerness of my seven-year-old self!

There’s something about the drama, beauty, grace, poise and pain of it all that I find utterly enchanting! As an awestruck ten-year-old, my sister, friend and I were selected with several others to represent the Wells School of Ballet in a pantomime at the King’s Theatre in Glasgow - Jack and the Beanstalk!

What an experience! Working with the professional dancers and stars, the behind the scenes dressers, costumes and curtain calls, the thrill of the darkened stage before the blinding lights at Curtain Up was intoxicating!

Despite many a year of ballet classes and shows, I never really had my “tutu moment”! We were milkmaids, exotic creatures, gnomes, bees and peacocks, but never did we have the chance to dance in a tutu. Perhaps this unfulfilled desire is the reason I’m immediately drawn to any and all tulle fashion creations!

So you can imagine my surprise and delight when I stumbled across Zara’s collaboration with the New York City Ballet! As with most high street collabs, some pieces were unavailable, but I was excited to successfully bag the standout tulle dress you see in these shots.

When friend and super-talented photographer John Murray and I came to plan our next studio session, I immediately knew the theme and aesthetic I wanted to create - not least because John mentioned his desire to attempt some ‘motion capture’ photography. Essentially this is a slow exposure technique, relying heavily on slow shutter speed, careful lighting and camera stability, in which the subject’s movements are caught, over time, to often painterly, ghostly or dynamic effect.

As delighted as I am with our results, I do feel that a more adept, professional dancer could have given John far better shots. My pointe work is ‘back to basics’ at best, as I search for an adult class to improve my skill level. That said, for a first attempt, I think we caught the mood and aesthetic of this New York City Ballet piece beautifully!

Special thanks to John Murray for his skill and patience on this shoot. It took a surprising number of attempts at some of these moves to capture them successfully, especially when the results demanded fast body movements but completely still facial expressions. Let’s just say, that took a little while to master!

I’d love to hear your thoughts on these shots (and on ballet, tulle, tutus and motion capture) in the comments below.

Thanks for reading.

Nx