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Richmond Ballet Celebrates 30 Years of Suzanne Grandis Photography
11/19/2007
RICHMOND BALLET
MEDIA RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Media Contact:
November 19, 2007 Aaron Sutten
(804) 344-0906 x244
asutten@richmondballet.com
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Richmond Ballet Celebrates 30 Years of Suzanne Grandis Photography
RICHMOND
— Photographer Suzanne Grandis marveled at the pointed toes of a
leaping man in a kilt while contemplating where his image should be
hung on the walls just outside Richmond Ballet’s Studio Theatre.
“When Fernando Bujones came to the Ballet as a guest artist to do La Sylphide,
I photographed some of that ballet from backstage at the Landmark
Theatre,” Grandis recalled. “I was just overcome with what beautiful
feet he had – such wonderful arches and points and beautiful leaps.”
Bujones sprang from the floor 25 years ago for a mere second, but in
the frame he remains suspended, surrounded by other jumps, lifts, turns
or poses captured by Grandis, who also serves on Richmond Ballet’s
Board of Trustees. She began photographing Richmond Ballet in 1977, and
the new Studio gallery is a tribute to her tremendous body of work.
True to form, she lovingly arranged the photographs herself.
Richmond Ballet Artistic Director Stoner Winslett said Grandis, an
accomplished painter, has created an archive of exquisite beauty using
her keen eye for composition, color and form.
“Suzanne has shown her love for our art with the priceless gift of her
own,” Winslett said. “We have a consistent record of the company – from
its early years to the present – thanks to her dedication and passion
for Richmond Ballet, and in 30 years she has never charged the Ballet a
dime for her services.”
Grandis danced with Richmond Ballet for two years. She stayed involved
after she stopped dancing, and when she wanted to observe a master
class taught by guest artist Edward Villella, she got permission to
bring her camera. A graduate student in art history at Virginia
Commonwealth University at the time, she also needed a focus for her
photography portfolio – one subject matter to consistently photograph
for a year. The year ended, but Grandis never tired of the subject she
selected.
“I was doing it for my own purposes,” she said, always modest about her
role as the Ballet’s photographer. “It was a lot of fun to have such
incredible access and to see the choreographers when they would come to
teach class. That was the fabulous thing to me, getting to meet people
like Freddie Franklin, Charles Czarny and Bill Soleau, and now Jessica
Lang; these are such wonderful artists to have the opportunity to
know.”
Grandis soon became a fixture at the Ballet. She brought her camera to
every production. She followed the dancers on tour. She went to New
York with the company – twice. Until transitioning to digital images
two years ago, Grandis developed all her black and white film and made
the prints in her own darkroom – dancers would drop by her house
requesting copies of their favorite images.
Her photos have graced promotional posters, playbill covers and even
shelves and walls in the homes of those intimately connected with the
Ballet.
Always regarding her work with the Ballet as privilege, Grandis fondly
recalled a photo shoot that gave her the opportunity to photograph her
daughter, who was 14 years old at the time, dancing on tour in
Farmville, Va.
“We were getting ready to go, and she got in the car with no dance
bag,” Grandis said. “I said, ‘Get your dance bag; you’re an
understudy.’ When we got there, everyone had the flu… and, of course, I
have many pictures of her on stage in Who Cares? with the company.”
Grandis said all of the dancers have become her children because she’s
spent years watching them through her lens. She doesn’t pick favorites
when it comes to her photographs, but she knows her favorite part of
the process: following the progression of the company and the evolution
of its dancers.
“I watch dancers grow from doing small roles in The Nutcracker
to being the Sugar Plum Fairy,” she said. “Our beautiful Valerie
Tellmann has done just that; she’s done every role and she’s grown into
a magnificent ballerina.”
Referring to the 1982 La Sylphide shoot with Bujones, Grandis said that his talent triggered a thought that seems more like a prophecy in 2007.
“As enthusiastic as I was about the Ballet, I saw then that there was
tremendous need for growth,” she said. “We needed to get better and
better in order to reach a professional standard. Looking at the Ballet
today, all of that has come true. The dancers are so beautifully
trained and so talented that we seldom have guest artists now because
we have dancers that can do these roles.”
As the company continues to evolve, Richmond Ballet can rest assured
that Grandis will be there to pluck fleeting moments of grace from
their portrayals. One can only imagine what Grandis will capture in the
years to come.
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Richmond
Ballet, The State Ballet of Virginia, is dedicated to the education,
promotion, preservation and continuing evolution of the art form of
ballet. Richmond Ballet strives to keep meaningful works of dance
alive and to produce and foster new works that remain true to these
values. Now in its 24th professional season, Richmond Ballet's mission
is to "awaken and uplift the human spirit, both for audiences and
dancers."
***
For further press information contact:
Aaron Sutten, Director of Marketing and Communications
EMAIL: asutten@richmondballet.com; CALL: (804) 344-0906 x244