Ballet Dancers Boxed In (10 photos)

Seattle based photographer Marc von Borstel has created some truly dramatic images with his recent work with dancers from the New York City Ballet company and the Pacific Northwest Ballet company, based in Seattle. The entire series of photographs was commissioned to showcase the Fall 2010 collection of Mondetta Performance Gear (MPG), a Canadian active wear brand of clothing that caters to athletes and dancers. The latest collection is Marc's 8th time working with MPG and he continues to create truly inspiring, visually stunning and athletically breathtaking images for the clothing company.

In the first series, the dancers are placed, prisoned, in tiny cell-like boxes that visually constrain and stifle their natural propensity to move freely and engage in dynamic movement. The resulting tension is palpably and viscerally noticeable.

In a similar series, the dancers are positioned in spotlights, where the limitation placed upon them is conceptual, abstract even, yet no less arresting in the use of limited space and framing to depict individuals who we would otherwise see captured on film in complex leaps or dance maneuvers.

Model Credits:
Lucien Postelwaite, Principal, Pacific Northwest Ballet
Chalnessa Eames, Soloist, Pacific Northwest Ballet
Drew Jacoby, Contemporary Dance Artist, Jacoby and Pronk
Georgina Pazcoguin, Corps de Ballet, New York City Ballet
Craig Hall, Soloist, New York City Ballet
Drew Jacoby
Craig Hall
Kylie Lewallen, Spectrum Dance
Chalnessa Eames
Kylie Lewallen

More of his work can be found at www.mpgsport.com/gallery and at www.marcvonborstel.com.