This picture was taken by Wing Young Huie, on July 18, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Please note that all rights to this picture go to him, and him only.
The first thing about this picture is the bright red background and the people standing in front of it: four girls and two boys. While five of the people are standing, one of them is caught mid-air in some sort of jumping position. The next thing to make a note of is the writing on the picture that says "Ballet on the Block" with the date of Saturday, July 18 written just below it in white and black fonts respectively.
Going into some more depth is the fact that these people are wearing tutus and leotards. The leotards are black, and the tutus are made of newspapers. The girls are also wearing tights and are wearing ballet shoes, which can prove that they are ballet dancers. The surroundings are a red, possibly brick wall, with some of the blue sky on the upper left corner of the picture. This along with the dancers' shadows can prove that they are outside, or they have lighting that makes it look like they are outside.
Talking about the dancers themselves, each dancer has a specific position they are in which makes them look unique. The girl on the far right has one hand on her hip and the other on the wall. The boy next to her has his arms crossed and is leaning up on the wall with one leg bent. He is looking at the first girl, and based on the picture, she isn’t looking at him.
The next dancer is pressed all the way up against the wall and has her head turned away from the camera with her eyes closed. The next dancer is faced toward the last one, with her hand on the wall above her head and her hand on her hip.
The final girl dancer is faced towards the camera with her head looking at the boy next to her. Her hands are on her hips, and her legs are in a ballerina position. The final dancer is the male who is performing some kind of trick. His legs are crossed, his arms are out, and he is looking at the girl next to him.
Each dancer has a unique feature that gives them character. There is room for possible interpretation on relationships between characters, like the girl on the right and the boy on the right; it looks like they are talking to each other. The same goes for the next pair of girls, and the final girl and boy.
Both Wing Young Huie and Margaret Atwood present the concept of “othering” in their works, but they present it in completely different ways. In The Handmaid’s Tale, Atwood uses colors to distinguish women as branded, which is an alien and foreign concept to women today.
Huie uses color and image to show that ballet dancers are outside, which is something different because they typically ballet dancers are inside, and they almost never walk outside in their shoes on.
Both forms of “othering” show that people do different things that are alien and different from what usually happens in society. Women don’t walk around in designated colors, and dancers dance inside. This othering is important to society because it shows all the differences and possibilities that people can have, and alien concepts are interesting to analyze!
I really like the picture you chose for this post. I found the use of the red wall behind the dancers very nice because it provided a stark contrast against the dancers black leotards. I found your interpretation interesting, about how the dancers are outside and how they usually aren't outside because that realization had never occurred to me. I also liked how you choose to look at the dancers positions and how this could lead to interpretation about their relationships to one another. I agree with your comparisons between Atwood and Huie and how they are trying to exaggerate this idea of doing things that are different from society. While looking at the picture as well as your interpretation, one question arose: Why do are the tutus made of newspapers? Is this purposeful (for their performance) or are they trying to make a statement? I enjoyed your interpretation of the image and comparisons to Atwood. :)
ReplyDeleteI really liked your analyze of the picture and how you focused on the color and setting of the picture. What you said about the color, setting, and positioning of the dancers is not something I would have originally thought of focusing on or mentioning, but you did it in a way that makes sense and can make the picture a more detailed oriented picture giving character to each dancer. I also liked the way you described the colors as a way of "othering."
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