Weekly Photo Challenge: DANCE
“Dance is for everybody. I believe that the dance came from the people and that it should always be delivered back to the people.” Alvin Ailey
Weekly Photo Challenge: DANCE – a dancer in flight
Weekly Photo Challenge: DANCE – a dancer in flight
When I dance, I forget everything else and just feel completely happy. Katherine Jenkins
The dance can reveal everything mysterious that is hidden in music, and it has the additional merit of being human and palpable. Dancing is poetry with arms and legs. Charles Baudelaire
For this week’s assignment on DANCE, I decided to do something different. I shot some photos of a piece of sculptural art – a ballerina in dance motion – and positioned the shots from different angles to create a sense of energy and movement. I hope you like it. I’ve danced all my life, studied it for many years and know how much passion professional dancers bring to their craft. Dance has always moved me on a deeper level, and I’m pleased that we have it as our theme for this week’s photo challenge. Dance is more than movement … it is our life force, a form of energy, and a repository of our hopes and dreams. It is our passion for life and expresses itself in many forms. Enjoy the selections here and get up and dance away.
“Dance is the hidden language of the soul of the body.” Martha Graham
Weekly Photo Challenge: DANCE – a dancer in flight
Weekly Photo Challenge: DANCE – a dancer in flight collage
I see dance being used as communication between body and soul, to express what it too deep to find for words. Ruth St. Denis
I have no desire to prove anything by dancing. I have never used it as an outlet or a means of expressing myself. I just dance. I just put my feet in the air and move them around. Fred Astaire
I took the same series of photographs that I shot and applied color in variation. It gives the photos a new and completely different look. I have a decent collection of dance photos from concerts I’ve attended over the years, but I wanted to do something a bit more creative with my photos. That said, I’ve added a collage of some more recent dance photos in different settings. I chose not to add concert dance shots because I’ve used many of them multiple times and I just wanted something fresh for this photo challenge.
UPDATE: I’ve been asked how I created these shots. I photographed a piece of sculpture (dancing ballerina) from several angles, against a white matte backdrop. I used my Canon EOS Ti1 with a great EF 100mm 1 : 28 macro lens and then used Pixlr Express to add color and rotate some of the frames to create an additional layer of movement. The collage option is a favorite of mine because I love showing shots from different perspectives. So yes, l took these photos as that is the basic rule of our popular WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge. 💖 Enjoy & Join In!
More Below!
“Let your life lightly dance on the edges of Time like dew on the tip of a leaf.” Rabindranath Tagore
Weekly Photo Challenge: DANCE – a dancer in flight
Weekly Photo Challenge: DANCE – a collage of various dancers
The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance. Alan Watts
When you dance, your purpose is not to get to a certain place on the floor. It’s to enjoy each step along the way. Wayne Dyer
Dance has always given me joy; both as an observer and as a participant. I think because there are so many styles/forms of dance, each of us could find one that suits our temperament and calls our spirit. The card next to the shot of Snoopy above is inviting us to join in the Happy Dance with Snoopy. Hahaha! Go find some music you enjoy and get those muscles moving. What style of dance do you enjoy? If you come across something that you like, and wish to use any of my photos please send me a request in a comment below. Thank you! Have a relaxing weekend!
This post was inspired by a prompt from WP Daily Post: DANCE In this week’s challenge, share a photo of something that appears like dance to you — whether you choose to focus on objects, animals, or people (actually dancing, or not), try to capture the rhythm in their movement. I look forward to seeing your photos! There’s rhythm and motion all around us — this week, let’s capture some of it in a photo.
Positive Motivation Tip: Dance is more than movement… it is our life force, a form of energy, a repository of our hopes and dreams… It is our passion for life!
PHOTO CREDITS/ATTRIBUTIONS: All Photos copyrighted and from my Personal Collection
Until Next Time…
Ask. Believe. Receive. ©
Elizabeth Obih-Frank
Mirth and Motivation
Positive Kismet
I love what you did with the photos. For some reason, the more colorful ones look more energetic.
These images are so breathtaking! I have been dancing since I was a kid and really love the art of motion. It’s beautiful.
Terrific. Glad you enjoyed it.
I love to dance since I was a child; indeed. it is a way of communication and also a great way to keep active
Yes it is… love dance too
I love what you did in the colorful photos, I could see this on a big wall!
TY! Me too… 🙂
I like how you handled your assignment. I once took a black and white and redid it with different colors and textures, but it didn’t come alive like your project did.
Thank you! It was a lot of playful fun and experimenting. 🙂
this photo challenge on dance is so interesting. i love the movement you captured
TY! I was trying something different. 🙂
Cool pictures. Now I want to get up and dance.
That was an excellent idea to re-position the statue in various ways Elizabeth! It truly does give one a sense of movement, something you would not normally get from a figure frozen in time.
Thank you Suzanne and glad to have you back!
ooh i love ballet, it is such a cute and delicate form of dancing.
Ballet is far from delicate but I understand what you mean… 🙂
I love ballet, it looks so fragile but at the same time passionate and beautiful.
Dancing is one way of expressing our feelings and emotion. Very nice read.
Nothing liberates one as dance. Its a stress buster, just switching on some music and moving the body in accordance to it!!!
What a brilliant idea!
Hiya! Glad to see you here. TY! <3
Worth reading it. Just because I can’t dance, doesn’t mean I won’t dance lol Glad you shared this.
Hahaha1 You can dance. 🙂
I love your photos! The different angles really do give a sense of movement. I danced as a child, and it was always so freeing!
Yes… very liberating!
That sculptural art piece is an outstanding showmanship of the beauty of the body. It is fascinating to see how graceful limbs can be! Thanks for sharing!
So true! The body is magnificent.
Stunning photos, the human body is so incredible and beauty. I love how your different colour filters change the images.
You definitely met your goal. I can feel the movement in the pictures.
I do like it! You did a great job with the different colors too, this is fun and thought inspiring!
Thank you Rosey. I love the creative process… 🙂
I do not dance. So I know how much innate talent and practice it takes to create beautiful dance moves. When it comes to dance, some people simply have IT!
While I am not a dancer in public, it is hard to avoid when you are home alone and your favorite song comes on. So relaxing!!
This turned out great. At first I thought the sculpture was a real person lol This is a great exercise. I’ve been really getting into doing product photography lately. This would be good practice 🙂
Go for it Giselle! 🙂
I just went out for some dancing last night. lol Great post here! I love the pictures you’ve shared. Thank you.
Thank you! 🙂
Such a beautiful and creative post Elizabeth, full of passion, life and movement; just wonderful 🙂
Thank you Andrew! I had fun with this one.
Such beautiful photos with an effortless grace to those being captured in each picture. That is an art form all by it self.
Thank you! I love the way it evolved too.
I like how you did that! I know when I go see a dance performance, particularly when a variety of dance styles are shown, it really evokes a lot of emotions.
Yes, dance does that and can leave very reposeful impressions in our hearts and minds. 🙂
I love to dance when I get home from work! It helps me shake the day off and relax.
Creative ideas all over this submission. If there is one to take pictures of a subject to all angles, that one really is a perfect subject for it. It magnifies everything, and gives it a lot of different perspectives.
Thank you Rommel and I appreciate this coming from one of my favorite photographers! <3
i know a couple of people who loves to dance.. they appear so lively when they are at it.. 🙂 totally amazing!
It is a great for the body and mind and keeps us limber. 🙂
You’ve certainly achieved the effect of motion and elegance, it looks like she’s reaching for the sky!
I’m glad you picked up on that goal. I also see dance as soaring for the skies! <3
Love the photos, It reminds me how I love dancing when I was in high school
Yes … and I still do. 🙂
Beautiful! I love your unusual interpretation of the assignment, the element of movement definitely comes through in your shots 🙂
Thank you Sage… You made my day! 🙂
Dance used to be my exercise of choice, It really would get me sweating it out and having a ball of fun…in a club. Now I do more jogging and home video exercise. I love to dance for real and this weekly hot challenge has challenged me to dance again 🙂
Good. Dance is a great form of exercise and it can be done anywhere any time. 🙂
I like both seeing other people dance and the act of dancing by just throwing out whatever movement my body dictates at a time. These shots are great because they look like abstract art.
Thank you RochKristin! I agree that we can all move our bodies and create our own form of dance..
Reading through your post reminded me of the time when my father was still with us. Every Saturday night, he and my mom would dance the boogie, tango and cha cha. I loved watching them dance. They were so good. Now a widow, my 76 year old mom still goes ballroom dancing with her friends. All my children are great dancers too. Guess they take after their grandparents.
Yes they must… plus it keeps you in shape. 🙂
dance for me is an inner emotions expressed outwardly through bodily motions..
Lovely photo’s, dancers are so elegant. Wish I learnt to dance when I was younger
Some unique pictures as usual from you & I love how it shows a dancer in flight in various positions & moves. The way you have applied color in variation is quite amazing & that collage looks beautiful as well.
Thank you for your feedback. I appreciate it. 🙂
Oh my gosh! As a dancer I absolutely love this! I especially love the center photo in the first collage you have featured. If only I could still do that 🙂
I never realized that you took your own photos. I love that this is so different to your usual photos.
What a great bunch of photos, it’s so clever that it looks like it is moving due to the angles. The change in colouring looks great too x
Amazing idea behind the photos. They look wonderful. Dance indeed sets you free.
Thanks for including the update about how you did this, I was going to ask and then saw that! 🙂
I like dancing. It brings out the energy and fluidity in our actions. Your photos are superb. It’s as if a lady is doing different dance steps. Beautiful!
Amazing photos, I really love dancing
Dance is an art and also a way for us to express our inner feeling. I like to dance to let out emotions. Its a good workout too.
I’ve always been fascinated by people who looks so gracious when dancing. May it be ballet or hip hop/pop dancing. I wish I could do it too!
These photos are beautiful. As a former dancer and aspiring physician, I REALLY appreciate the beauty that is the human body. I love all the long lines of the body that you have displayed here!
Thank you and I feel the same way… The human body is a to be admired and respected. 🙂
All my kids love to dance – I love how you moved the statue for the collage. Great challenge.
I was a dancer for 15 years and I miss it dearly! Even though some days weren’t the best and the competition aspect got stiff, I still loved it!
Wow!! Dance is the rythm of art expression that eulogizes a soul! It makes me joyous. Thanks for putting so much efforts into capturing the moments of the dancers and illustrating it with an article.
Thank you for your enthusiasm, Leke. 😉