Grounded (芭蕾舞照片展)

May 15th 2011 (Sunday)


今日去National Ballet School看了一個相片展覽會. 相片中人係芭蕾舞學校的學生.
展覽會取名“Grounded”.
 
相片展示了舞者天使般的面龐和的辛酸的雙腳. 這些學生都只得十幾嵗, 雙腳卻似走了幾十年的路. 他們的雙腳反影了他們的努力和對舞蹈的付出.

看罷, 我真心佩服這些年輕舞者的付出, 希望他們能追到夢想, 在台上發熱發亮.
我小時也很想成為舞者. 當日我放棄習舞, 是迫不得已: 中學功課太忙加上無天資. 熱愛、亦努力過, 但我連續轉圈時會暈, 真的學不上去…很無奈.

想看更多“Grounded”的相片, 可到以下網頁:
http://www.joelbenard.com/Grounded/

Grounded

Wed May 4 – Sat May 28

NBS is partnering with local photographer Joël Bénard and participating in this year's Contact Photography Festival. NBS is hosting Bénard's exhibit, entitled Grounded, in the Mona Campbell Square. Joël Bénard's exhibit features photographs of the feet and faces of students of Canada's National Ballet School. Bénard describes his work as 'creating juxtaposed portraits that illustrate the hard work and determination of the performers.'
Toronto's Contact Photography Festival is the largest photography event on a global scale. Over 1,000 artists, consisting of local, national and international individuals, meet to share their work and celebrate the art of photography. Gathering an audience of over 1.5 million, Contact's theme this year, Figure and Ground, is inspired by the writings of Marshall McLuhan.
Joël Bénard is a Toronto-based photographer who has photographed NBS students for many years. 

About Grounded:

These diptychs play on the contrast between the seen and the unseen, the fresh and the worn, the ideal and the real. Grounded is literally about the part of the dancers’ bodies that grounds them to the earth, it’s also about the determination and passion that grounds them within themselves.

These images are a testament to the sacrifice that the students give for ballet.  Poised and professional, the portraits of the students mimic the beauty of the dance while their feet are shown, as they are – strong but worn. 

Paul Calderone, a ballet student who appears in Grounded, says, “There isn’t a single day when ballet feels easy. I never feel like I am the best I can be, so every day is an opportunity to get a little closer to that unattainable perfection.”

Another student who appears in Grounded, Abigail Sheppard, says, “As dancers, we make ballet look painless but it’s not, it’s athletic and hard on our bodies. It’s beautiful but also difficult. And our feet are really the only evidence that speaks to how hard we actually work.”  


(Some text of this blog from Canada National Ballet School website and www.joelbenard.com)