BEHIND THE STAGE

Date: 2019.04

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Medium: Photo Essay

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People usually admire the beauty of dancers on stage, but they don’t always see the cost of this beauty. As a dancer, I created this photo narrative to unveil the unknowns. I found it quite hard to show the intensity of dance training by shooting a single photo of someone dancing, so the first diptych is intended to have the audience spot the differences and wonder why this person needed to drink so much water within an hour? She might have sweated a lot. The second photo is a pile of tape for reducing the pain. Below, is me working with a foot stretcher. It hurts, but this prettier foot shape is desired. On the right, scars covered by a beautiful pointe shoe are revealed. The picture of worn out shoes is intended to indicate the huge amount of time a dancer has committed to training. The last photo focuses on a bowl of salad with the background being fast food, intended to show the sacrifice of food choice dancers have to make in order to maintain a good body shape.