It is very difficult to resist the beauty that the body creates while dancing.
The gracefulness of the movements, the synchronisation of the muscles, the harmony of the body and music. For me, almost every dance is fascinating, because not only does it carry a lot of emotion and passion, but the performer lets us into his private world. Opens the doors of sensitivity to us and allows us to touch theirs deepest secrets. For this brief moment, we are linked by the strongest of all bonds – the mutual trust.
For many years I have passionately collected photographs of ballerinas and ballet masters. The movement freeze for eternity. I admire the determination and control over one's own body. Overcoming limits, crushing weaknesses to achieve perfection. Years of sacrifice and hard work.
Looking at the photos of these extraordinary dance figures, I feel a great sense of gratitude to be able to admire such beauty, and I can adore it, because others have done extraordinary work.
Anyone who has spent a few months training hard, kept to an extremely restrictive diet or tried to get rid of a nasty habit - knows how much effort and willpower it takes, to hold on and not lose sight of the goal. That's why I admire the dancers so much - their efforts are evident - the photos show every centimetre of their bodies, the years of training and daily sacrifices. And most importantly, we can see the passion. And that completes this picture – determination, sweat and huge passion.
A very large part of my collection is occupied by the photographs of Sergei Polunin. An extremely controversial, charismatic character and a great talent.
Born in Ukraine - at the moment he holds Russian citizenship. He joined London's Royal Ballet School at the age of 13, not only thanks to his undebatable talent - but also thanks to the sacrifice of his entire family. His mother went abroad with him, so he could continue his dance training, his father took a job far from home, so that he could support his wife and son, who were living in the UK at the time. As a testament to the strength of his talent you can take the fact that he became the youngest ever Principal of the Royal Ballet - at just 20 years old!
I mentioned earlier that Polunin was controversial - there are many factors contributing to this statement - unusual choice of musical repertoire, self-sabotage of his own career by reckless decisions (such as abandoning his career at the Royal Ballet) and very open talk about his political sympathies, which, to put it mildly, doesn't fall in line with current political climate and correctness.
About the drawing
I took a day off during a mad rush at work because I felt I was no longer being myself. I was starting to lose my personality. I spent every free moment working, even ate my meals in a hurry and always at the computer. My only breath came from 5 - 10 minutes of browsing the hiva. I was sorry that I did not have time to comment, because the voting itself, I do not enjoy so much as the opportunity to exchange thoughts, views.
I chose pencil not only, because it requires more focus, and self-control from me, but because this technique is a classical form and seems to be a better combination with the noble, rigorous beauty of ballet. I worked a little differently to the usual, as I started with a soft 6B pencil, where I usually start with an 'F' or 2B. I wanted the drawing to be soft but at the same time in high contrast, to expose the beauty of the body in motion. I am counting on your comments!
Have a lovely Friday!
Yours,
Strega Azure
If you feel, that you would like to learn more about this colourful character, here are a few links:
his wiki bio, pictures, public and private projects.
Swan Lake, Stanislavsky Theater in Moscow, August 2014
Sergei Polunin in music video performance to Depeche Mode 'In Your Room', directed by Anton Corbijn.
'Take Me to Church' by Hozier. Directed by David LaChapelle
Sergei Polunin performing Moonlight Sonata in Japan, Otobutai Festival, September 2019
Dancer, 2016, documentary about Polunin, you can watch it currently on Netflix
Drawing & pics are my authorship if not stated otherwise, all rights reserved @strega.azure ©
I have used pencils: 10B, 8B, 6B,4B, 2B, F, 2H, 4H, 8H
Here you have the photo by Albert Watson that I used as a reference to create my piece
