Degas, Dancer-Painting

Of course, this is only one of Degas' many paintings of dancers, but this is one of my favorites. The prima ballerina is caught in a moment of her dance where she is perhaps the most happy and comfortable; her arms are arched gracefully in a port de bras, and she seems to have just completed her movement, perhaps an arabesque, attitude, or jete. In the wings stage right, we can see a danseur, as well as the tutus and pointe shoes of the eager dancers, waiting for their time on the stage. The floodlights cast an otherwordly light on the main dancer; a warm, bright glow shines through her tutu and gleams on her pale skin. The entire stage is bare, but Degas has painted it to complement the warmth of the dancer's light: a musty yellow-blue color that, while complementing the dancer, does not in any way detract from her focus.

Meghan Ogilvie, Untitled

Meghan Ogilvie, a Canadian photographer, captures a very ethereal beauty in her series of underwater photographs. The three images here are only a sampling of her work. My two favorite elements of these photographs are the crinkly white light that the surface of the water casts over the floor, and the graceful, flowing fabrics that seem to envelop the models. The incredibly cool, blue light of the underwater world gives the models a pale and very clear appearance. I think it would be a fun challenge to recreate the crinkly pool lighting on a stage. The images here suggest motion, movement, yet the women seem suspended in a frozen moment of time.