Artscope Magazine and the NYC Dance Project

It’s an honor for a writer to know that a story they have crafted will grace the cover of a magazine. Personally, it tells me that my writing has obtained a certain standard – I take that recognition quite seriously and am always grateful for it. For the artists I write about, it is always good news when they learn that their hard work is representative of a publication’s monthly (or bi-monthly) issue.

This summer’s issue of Artscope Magazine (July/August) shows the stunning photographic work of Deborah Ory and Ken Browar’s NYC Dance Project. It was wonderful to work with Ory and Browar, as well as gallery owner Susan Lanoue, for the story.

I include the article for you here.
Photos courtesy of NYC Dance Project.

The Breath of a Dancer

With a single click, a moment in time can be captured forever. It’s extraordinary, really, when you think about it. Occasions, places, and historical events are captured by the internal mechanisms of a camera, by the skill and passion of the photographer, providing us with that which our own eyes may not see. The click of a shutter can capture something so slight as the breath of a dancer.

Choreographer Merce Cunningham once said, “You have to love dancing to stick to it. It gives you nothing back, no manuscript to store away, no paintings to hang in museums, no poems to be printed and sold, nothing but that fleeting moment when you feel alive.”

NYC Dance Project – Ashley Ellis

Ken Browar and Deborah Ory have given us, and the dancers they photograph, something to hold on to. They are the founders of NYC Dance Project which features a stunning collection of 300 photographs of more than 70 elite dancers from companies such as the New York City Ballet, The Martha Graham Dance Company, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, the Royal Danish Ballet, Boston Ballet, the Royal Ballet, and The Bolshoi Ballet.

What began as a personal endeavor for Browar and Ory grew into a full-time professional project which, in part, is now premiering at Lanoue Gallery in Boston’s South End. The introductory exhibition will show seven of these gorgeous large format dye sublimation prints on metal. The six photos of female dancers are formatted vertically to 50” tall x 42” wide, and the photo of the male dancer is a large horizontal work measuring 48” tall x 67” wide.

The inspiration for the project began when the couple was attempting to decorate their thirteen-year-old daughter’s room – Sarah is an aspiring ballerina and wanted her room filled with dance photographs. After conducting extensive searches through galleries, bookstores, and the internet, they were surprised to find that images of contemporary dancers were in very short supply. 

“There were beautiful images of famous dancers from past generations – such as Baryshnikov or Markova, taken more than forty years ago – but nothing of the current stars,” said Ory. 

Ken Browar is a professional fashion and beauty photographer whose work has appeared in Vogue, Elle, Marie Claire, and many European fashion magazines. His interest in dance began while he was living in Paris and photographed dancers for the Paris Opera Ballet. Deborah Ory has been a dancer since the age of seven and began her career in photography when she was injured as a dancer, photographing the rehearsals she could not participate in due to that injury.

The team decided that they needed to rectify the lack of photography in the contemporary dance industry. As fans of Daniil Simkin of the American Ballet Theatre, they selected Simkin to be their first subject. He quickly agreed and thus began the NYC Dance Project four years ago.

The point of all this was not just to document dancers, but to collaborate with them to provide images – stories, even – that display the dancers athleticism and love for what they do. It allows us, as viewers, to see the beauty of dance captured for just a moment in time, to experience up-close the emotion of each artist while performing their craft. 

Working with the dancers, Browar and Ory create a mood for each photograph. Wardrobe is selected and lighting manipulated. Great attention is paid to the finest of details – the flick of a wrist, the gesture of a hand, that moment of release right before the dancer’s foot lands once again on the stage floor. The couple is not looking to make the dancer into a model. But to portray each dancer as the subject, not the object, of the photo. They believe that if the dancer is not 100% comfortable during a shoot, the resulting image would never be real.

NYC Dance Project – James Whiteside

Ory writes in their book, “We want to showcase and celebrate the artists as individuals so that our project becomes a diverse portrait of New York’s dance community…Our favorite moments are the simple ones: the breath the dancer takes after a jump, the quiet introverted moments often only seen backstage, or the second, mid-motion, when the dancer feels free. Our project is also a celebration of bodies. Dancers must simultaneously be artists and athletes, and we try to highlight both qualities of our subjects in the photographs.”

The images are all created against a gray background in Browar and Ory’s home studio. Having a constant background and similar lighting throughout the project keeps the focus on each dancer and also provides a personal style for the project. Their camera of choice is a medium format Hasselblad.

“We love the look the Hasselbad gives, and the beauty of the lens,” explains Ory. “The camera forces us to work slowly, and we can only shoot one frame per movement. This means that we have to be very in tune with the dancer and there is no margin of error. Even though it is more difficult, it’s really about timing and finding that special moment. In a way, it’s as close to analog as it can get without regressing to older technologies.”

Martha Graham stated, “In the end, it all comes down to the art of breathing,” and Ory explains that breath is the basis of dance and initiates movement.

“We find ourselves breathing with the dancer as they move – even subconsciously – and this helps us with timing as we only have one chance to capture each movement.”

NYC Dance Project – Charlotte Landreau

Lanoue Gallery is thrilled to bring NYC Dance Project to Boston. “I would like to invite the public to come see the photographs in person. Everyone with whom I have shared the initial images has had the same immediate reaction, ‘WOW! This is incredible!’ I feel fortunate and honored to be in a position to introduce the NYC Dance Project’s artwork to a larger audience. I see amazing things in their future,” said Susan Lanoue.

And indeed, Browar and Ory assure us that they will continue to illustrate dance and movement, and will strive to always provide us with something new and interesting in their work.

NYC Dance Project’s accompanying book, The Art of Movement, featuring over seventy dancers, won an International Photography Award in 2016 for best book. The gallery will have a limited number of books available for sale, and Browar and Ory will be present to personally dedicate copies for gallery visitors on Friday, July 6th from 6-8pm.

NYC Dance Project has been featured in many magazines including Harper’s Bazaar, Italian Vogue, L’Uomo Vogue and Glamour. Their work has also appeared on numerous websites including Today.com, Elle.com, USA Today.com, Huffington Post, and Hasselblad.

The show runs through July 29, 2018.
LANOUE GALLERY
450 Harrison Avenue, #31
Boston, MA, 02118
lanouegallery.com 

GALLERY HOURS:                               
Tuesday – Saturday 11-6
Sunday: 12-4
Wheelchair accessible

You can see more work from the NYC Dance Project on their website at nycdanceproject.com

Pick up the current issue of Artscope distributed at over 700 points in New England. You can see an excerpt of the article here.

Artscope Magazine cover July/August 2018

Lisa Mikulski is a writer and photographer based in Boston, MA. Available for print or online publications. Editorial, features, content development, and creative.