Scholastic Photography Competition
award: Silver Key
out of 18 houndred students K-12
Artist statement:
The stages of a ballerina’s life
begin from the ages 2-6. And as she dreams and grows, so does the pain of
wanting to become the imaginable essence, the elegant sugar plum fairy. Leather shoes and ribbons wrap around the
ankles of little Alina. Longing for hard wooden Pointe shoes, unknowing of the
requirements she must reach before she can graduate to her vision. As the
advanced dancer lands her pirouette, she remembers her first pair of Pointe shoes
and the agony that came accompanied them. Now, the beauty arrives as she steps
forward into a jump, charming the crowd. The older dancer has just begun to
touch the magic the nutcracker holds, and still has much to learn in order to
finally be able to accomplish all that she set out for; for the magic, for the
beauty, for the grace, for the love of ballet.
