Description
Price: $60.00 - $54.49
(as of May 31, 2025 16:06:05 UTC – Details)
Renowned portrait photographer Mark Mann documents an impressive host of dancers—their eloquent bodies in posed tranquility and vibrant motion—representing years of excellence and varied disciplines of the art form.
A celebration of the strength and emotive ability of dancers, this book is a collection of images that captures the dynamism and energy of the mediums of both dance and photography. In homage to Mann’s hero Irving Penn, he installed a backdrop of old monochromatic muslin. Dancers from many genres—ballet, jazz, African, tap, Broadway theater, hip-hop, ballroom—perform and discuss their passions about the art form in this stark environment.
Mann captures the humanity and spontaneity of principal and lead dancers from the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, American Ballet Theatre, Martha Graham Dance Company, New York City Ballet, and many other troupes. Subjects include dance personalities Misty Copeland, Carmen de Lavallade, Tiler Peck, Chita Rivera, James Whiteside, Omari Wiles, Xin Ying, and many others.
As a photographer, Mann is used to working hard at making something happen in his images; here, he has taken a slightly more passive role, witnessing and capturing the expressive and talented subjects that take control of each frame. This book is a testament to the emotional and physical power of each dancer, in stillness and in motion.
From the Publisher
Publisher : Rizzoli
Publication date : March 21, 2023
Language : English
Print length : 240 pages
ISBN-10 : 084789911X
ISBN-13 : 978-0847899111
Item Weight : 2.31 pounds
Dimensions : 8.67 x 1.16 x 12.25 inches
Amazon Customer –
Beautiful book!
Very well executed. Nicely done!
Pat McGoin –
A must for photographers and dancers
I recently had the pleasure of reading this stunning photography book by the renowned and talented photographer, Mark Mann. I was immediately drawn to this book’s beautiful images and insightful commentary regarding the dancers.What struck me most was the way Mann approaches photography as a form of visual storytelling. The imagery of the photographs was something I have never seen before. It blew me away. 5 stars for sure.
J. L. Williams –
Sincere but derivative photography; a nicely diverse collection of dancers
NYC-based celebrity portraitist Mark Mann joins what by now must be quite a large throng of professional photographers who, finding their usual gigs drying up during the pandemic, apparently had the same simultaneous thought: “I need a project… I know, I’ll do pictures of dancers!”All the photos are black-and-white, all shot with natural light in a vacant warehouse bay, and all posed in front of a mottled cloth backdrop with edges and background supports visible. This was an unconventional aesthetic when Irving Penn used it for his 1974 book “Worlds in a Small Room”… but 1974 was a long time ago, and by now the wrinkled-fabric-and-stand look is just a schtick widely co-opted by commodity photographers, taking the edge off what seems like a genuinely sincere effort to give the project an organic look.One redeeming feature is that Mann has selected subjects beyond the obvious ballet-and-Broadway-stars array… you’ll see Misty Copeland, all right, but you’ll also see artists drawn from dance sub-disciplines ranging from tap to vogueing. Each subject is presented in a two-page spread pairing a full-length dance photo with a portrait; the dance photos are a mixed bag, but the portraits are quite strong and are probably the best reason for owning this book.
Kimberly Giannelli –
One of the most captivating dance books I have ever seen!
What a beautiful way to capture dance across so many disciplines and so many generations of incredible artists. This book is a must have for any dance enthusiast or lover of beauty.
Philly Radar –
Dancers in poses
While I liked the descriptions of the dancers, the photos seem static and do not capture the pleasure in dancing.
A Simmonds –
This is a book full of beautiful photographs. Each time I look at it I see something else. If you are a fan of photography, you need this book.
IMS –
This was a Christmas present for my ex- dancer daughter and she was delighted. The photos are absolutely beautiful and vet atmospheric. So much thought has been put into each one