INSIDE
Les BALLETS de MONTE-CARLO
Photography Exhibition by Alice Blangero
INSIDE
Les BALLETS de MONTE-CARLO
Photography Exhibition by Alice Blangero
February 17-21
CHRISTIE'S
LOBBY GALLERY
20 Rockefeller Plaza, New York City
Free and open to the public
Wed-Sat: 10:00 am - 5:00 pm
Sun: 1:00 pm - 5:00 pm
While Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo will delight dance lovers with Cinderella at New York City Center, a companion exhibition of behind-the-scenes photographs at the New York headquarters of world-renowned auctioneers, Christie’s, will take visitors on an intimate backstage tour.
On exhibition for the first time in the United States, twenty photographs by Monaco-born Alice Blangero take us Inside Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo as she captures the innermost moments of the company’s work. While some of the photos focus on dancers waiting in the wings or backstage during a performance, most of them show the dancers during everyday rehearsals.
"That first phase of creation and rehearsal offers me proximity and an insight to the dancers and the choreographer that the stage doesn’t allow,” explained Blangero.
These limited edition prints, signed by the artist, will be available for purchase*. For inquiries, please contact [email protected]. All proceeds will benefit Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo.
(*sale transactions handled through the Consulate General of Monaco, not through Christie’s).
ALICE BLANGERO
Photographer, Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo
Born in Monaco in 1979, Alice Blangero first became interested in the art of portraiture photography, before moving to Paris between 2005 and 2010 to immerse herself in the world of musicians, actors and artists.
In 2010, she had her first collaboration with Jean-Christophe Maillot for the centenary celebrations of the Russian Ballet. It was through this project that she discovered ballet as an artistic medium whose goals of portraying emotion and artistic sensitivity aligned with her own desires for her work.
From 2011 on, she continued to work closely with Jean Christophe Maillot and the company, even being invited into the dancers’ rehearsals to capture the rarest and most intimate moments of their work. While some of the photos focus on dancers waiting in the wings or backstage during a performance, most of them show the dancers during everyday rehearsals. “That first phase of creation and rehearsal offers me proximity and an insight to the dancers and the choreographer that the stage doesn’t allow,” explained Alice Blangero.
Dance photography might seem a world away from beginnings as a portrait artist, but Blangero doesn’t think so. “I see these moments like unusual portrait sessions, where the dancer becomes more important than the dance and, forgetting the camera pointing at them, throws themselves into a gesture, a movement, an extension of themselves that goes beyond the exercise”.
In 2010, she had her first collaboration with Jean-Christophe Maillot for the centenary celebrations of the Russian Ballet. It was through this project that she discovered ballet as an artistic medium whose goals of portraying emotion and artistic sensitivity aligned with her own desires for her work.
From 2011 on, she continued to work closely with Jean Christophe Maillot and the company, even being invited into the dancers’ rehearsals to capture the rarest and most intimate moments of their work. While some of the photos focus on dancers waiting in the wings or backstage during a performance, most of them show the dancers during everyday rehearsals. “That first phase of creation and rehearsal offers me proximity and an insight to the dancers and the choreographer that the stage doesn’t allow,” explained Alice Blangero.
Dance photography might seem a world away from beginnings as a portrait artist, but Blangero doesn’t think so. “I see these moments like unusual portrait sessions, where the dancer becomes more important than the dance and, forgetting the camera pointing at them, throws themselves into a gesture, a movement, an extension of themselves that goes beyond the exercise”.
