To celebrate its Season 2014 launch and Artistic Director Aurelien Scannella's first year of programming, West Australian Ballet collaborated with Artist and Photographer Emma Hack to create a series of striking images for its 2014 program.
WAB commissioned the well-known body illustrator and artist who painted the dancers' g-string clad bodies in silver and then positioned them so that they created human sculptures to represent next years' performances.
Snow White:
A close-up of the apple:
Inspired by the beauty, the fluidity and the smoothness of the element mercury – a metaphor for dance – Emma created a series of images to celebrate Aurélien Scannella’s first curated season. She has also worked with WAB dancer and upcoming choreographer Daniel Roberts on a performance piece which will be unveiled at the company’s launch event on 17 October. Together, Scannella and Hack developed the project to showcase what ballet is capable of.
Radio (that's not a typo) and Juliet:
close-up of lips and chin:
In painting them silver, all dancers merge together as one to create beautiful things. It embraces the traditional elements of ballet by creating silhouettes that are classic looking, paired with something as progressive as body painting and building structures of twisted bodies. It has never been done before.
La Fille Mal Gardée:
Giselle:
detail from above image of Giselle:
Images from behind the scenes, courtesy of The West Australian:
Check out this behind the scenes mini-documentary, the making of 'The Mercury Project':
WAB SEASON 2014
•RADIO AND JULIET: BALLET AT THE QUARRY
7 February > 1 March, Quarry Amphitheatre, City Beach
•GISELLE
9 May > 24 May, His Majesty’s Theatre, Perth
•LA FILLE MAL GARDÉE
5 September > 20 September, His Majesty’s Theatre, Perth
15 October > 18 October, Canberra Theatre Centre, Canberra
•SNOW WHITE AND THE 7 DWARFS
21 November > 14 December, His Majesty’s Theatre, Perth
Bookings:
Season Package Subscriptions are available from West Australian Ballet from 10am, 18 October. Call (08) 92140707, go to waballet.com.au, fill in the form inside the Season 2014 Brochure or visit the West Australian Ballet Centre. Individual tickets are available from 18 November.
For Radio and Juliet: Ballet at the Quarry contact Ticketmaster on 136 100, visit waballet.com.au or any Ticketmaster outlet.
For Giselle, La Fille Mal Gardée, and Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs, call Ticketek Theatre and Arts Hotline 1300 795 012, visit waballet.com.au or any Ticketek outlet.
See more of Emma Hack's work in these previous posts:
