When it came to documenting collaborations between the New York City Ballet and high-end heritage fashion houses, award-winning photographer Pari Dukovic had to balance several opposing forces: the stillness of the image and the energy of the dancers… the individuality of each designer. and the collective narrative of an institution like NYCB… the low double height of the image and the concentrated threedimensional nature of the ballet. On top of it all, 130 looks pulled off by costume director Marc Happel had to be shot in just six days. “This was my most challenging shoot, in many ways,” Dukovic told the Observer.
The resulting images were the subject of a 2023 book by Rizzoli New York City Ballet: Choreography & Couture and is now on display at VISU Contemporary in Miami in what Dukovic sees as a multi-site tour. The exhibit features twenty-five prints depicting nearly thirty couture outfits created for NYCB's annual Fall Fashion Gala, curated by Sarah Jessica Parker in 2012. Among them are the stunning prints of the Company's dancers wearing Sarah Burton, Thom Browne, Prabal Gurung, Carolina Herrera and the late Virgil Abloh, among others—rarely do you see dance and fashion and art combined as creatively as here.
Dukovic, in the 2010s, was a New Yorker photographer and shot the likes of Barack Obama, Gayle King, Taylor Swift and Nancy Pelosi. He began working for NYCB in 2019, shooting annual marketing campaigns promoting each year's show, and was soon approached to capture the general creative relationship between the Company and top designers. (Valentino Garavani designed the first costumes for the Fall Fashion Gala for then-company director Peter Martins, who planned four ballets for the opening ceremony according to the designer's concepts.) Dukovic was scheduled to begin filming in 2020. “Of course, that didn't happen. ,” he said. “On the flip side, it gave me time to focus on putting together a creative approach to the book.”
The two-year break between the project's launch date and actual photography, which took place in 2022, gave him time to unleash his inner narcissist. “I had an Excel sheet with a picture of each dancer and a picture of each costume, and I had a grid of this dancer with this costume or these three dancers with this set of costumes,” she explained. Many of his notes include background colors and possible looks and angles for each shot.
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His fascination with art history, which informs his practice, was a breakthrough. “I'm originally from Istanbul, and I'm a double major in the history of photography and art,” she said. “Since you were born and raised there, you are surrounded by the history of art. In Company, I was thinking, how do I bring the dancers together to almost respect that? You know, in my own way, through my visual experience. “
Rosie Assoulin's shimmering, geometric, ballet-referenced, 2016 costumes. Unframed, reminded him of Picasso's line drawings. With costumes by Olivier Theyskens for the 2013 production The Crucible, with their loose, weightless fabric, Dukovic wanted to move the Nike of Samothrace. For Humberto Leon's clothing for New Blood, a series of destroyed units that drew inspiration from Jane Fonda's aerobics, he created an ensemble shot that revived Matisse's composition. The Dance.
Dukovic talks a lot about the collaborative process with those who participated in it—especially the dancers who performed six ten-hour days. “The beauty of working with a dancer is that you give them a note, and they know exactly how to do it—the timing is amazing,” he said. But they were also blunt about measuring Dukovic's expectations. “You know, because I'm not a ballet dancer, they were able to guide me.” In one instance, an outfit designed by Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen appeared consisting of an embellished bodice with a full, layered skirt. he looked weightless. The dancer helped Dukovic, who thought the costume would be easy, get the shot he had been thinking about.
The VISU Contemporary exhibition marks the first time Dukovic's photographs have been shown outside of a book and the first time they have been enlarged—some nearly life-size. “This is the first time I have seen these pictures printed in large numbers,” said the photographer in his voice full of joy.
“En Pointe: Dance & Fashion” is evident in Miami's VISU Contemporary until November 16. From then on, the exhibition will travel to additional locations to be announced.
