For about 10 years I did freelance work for Pacific Northwest Ballet, so I have photographed more than my share of dance. I shot “finished product” dress rehearsals and performances, but I also documented the hours, days, and months of behind-the-scenes, before-opening-night creativity that goes into the choreographing, costuming, lighting and staging of a professional company’s work.I came to respect and admire the artists of the dance community, and I learned that the beauty the audience sees on stage does not happen by accident. Everything we witness, from the grandest flight of body to the tiniest of details -- the way the tips of a ballerina’s finger’s are curled just-so when she does an arabesque -- are things that are examined, practiced, and perfected.It amazes me now when I photograph a wedding and I see elements of dance at these beautiful, albeit spontaneous events. There are moments of such perfection, poise, and sweetness at weddings...and those moments come without practice or choreographed forethought.One of the things I particularly enjoy seeing at the weddings I photograph is girls -- grown-up girl brides, and little ones who have the honor of being flower girls -- having the chance to play dress-up. Frilly dresses with tulle, sparkling earrings, dainty shoes.Do beautiful, real-life events like weddings influence dance, or does dance mirror real-life? Maybe a little bit of both?
