cover image Getting Closer: A Dancer's Perspective

Getting Closer: A Dancer's Perspective

. University Press of Florida, $29.95 (101pp) ISBN 978-0-8130-2768-5

A former professional dancer views the art through a photographer's lens in this slim but poignant book of images. O'Connor, who danced with American Ballet Theatre for 15 years, records many moments that can't been seen by theater audiences: the pre-performance application of make up; the behind-the-scenes line-up of toe shoes and headpieces all set for a quick change during Swan Lake; a dancer waiting pensively in the wings. O'Connor also catches dance in mid-action: leaps, pirouettes, tutus swirling into abstract patterns. O'Connor won a dance photography contest in 1996, and since then she has been invited to photograph ABT on a regular basis; her work has appeared in Vogue and Vanity Fair. The photos speak for themselves, but O'Connor has also obtained comments from some of the artists who appear here, such as Mark Morris, Gillian Murphey, Paloma Herrera and Natalia Makarova. And her own brief comments add to the intimate sense of the inner world of the dance that O'Connor captures so well.