Ballet - Photographs of the New York City Ballet
Introduction by Peter Martins
In the winter of 2012, I was granted unprecedented access to the New York City Ballet by Ballet Master in Chief Peter Martins. With the very same Leica that I used during my seminal years photographing the Béjart Ballet Lausanne, I ventured backstage and through the rehearsal studios, capturing moments ranging from the impossibly sublime to the beautifully mundane.
Most often, I was transfixed by the dancers in their solitary, unguarded moments. Hands meticulously breaking in pointe shoes, a dancer resting on the floor, the brief moment of stillness before the curtain rose —for me, these were the pictures that spoke eloquently of the beauty that I saw within the dancers of the Company.
The photographs in this book are an ode to the brilliant men and women of the New York City Ballet. For inviting us to places we’ve forgotten and for effortlessly transporting us outside of our everyday selves. More than just dance, ballet is an expression of human emotion in all its forms—love, despair, passion, hope and most importantly, joy.
Henry Leutwyler, Spring 2012, New York City
