Caroline Holden Dance

11/06/2026

Behind the Lens

Eve Arnold photographed some of the defining moments of modern American and social history and became the first female photographer to join Magnum Photos in 1951. While she is best known for her portraits of famous figures like Malcolm X and Marilyn Monroe, she also played a pivotal role in bringing undocumented subjects to public notice.
Eve’s friendship with Mikhail Baryshnikov led her to a new book, ‘Private View’, about his life and work at the American Ballet Theatre in 1987.
She was less interested in the breathtaking moment, the perfect leap, than in capturing the reality of the dancers and the gruelling work involved. Or as she later recalled the, ‘sweat, intense hard work, concentration, pulled tendons and pain that go on behind the scenes.’
She said, ‘My techniques belong to me: it’s all intuition. I just concentrate on seeing. There is nothing except me. Remember it is the photographer and not the camera that is the instrument.’

09/06/2026

Images from English National Ballet's Swan Lake in-the round choreographed by Derek Deane at the Royal Albert Hall 2013

05/06/2026

30/05/2026

‘When he shall die,
Take him and cut him out in little stars,
And he will make the face of heaven so fine
That all the world will be in love with night’
Juliet Act 3, Scene 2

The Royal Ballet, Romeo and Juliet 2025
Principals Francesca Hayward and Cesar Corrales

05/05/2026

The Royal Ballet, Romeo and Juliet 2025
Principals Francesa Hayward and Cesar Corrales

As well as the big dramatic moments in Sir Kenneth MacMillans’s ballet about Shakespeare’s ‘Star- crossed lovers’, there are moments of real happiness for the young couple at having found each other, before fate and the family conflict lead to them taking their own lives ending their parents’ feud.
MacMillan wanted to show the lovers as youngsters at the mercy of a powerful patriarchal society. He, and Lynn Seymour creating the role of Juliet, envisaged her as a headstrong, passionate girl who makes all the crucial decisions: the secret marriage, in defiance of her parents’ wishes; taking Friar Lawrence’s potion; joining Romeo in death. Romeo is depicted as a young man swept off his feet by love.
Notes from The MacMillan Estate

10/04/2026

Congratulations to Joseph Taylor, Mthuthuzeli November and Northern Ballet

09/03/2026

Maïlène Katoch from BRB2's Les Sylphides

19/02/2026

Casanova and Bellino Pas de Deux from Kenneth Tindall's Casanova with Giuliano Contadini and Dreda Blow

Nureyev said, ‘A pas de deux is a dialogue of love.’ But the pas de deux between Bellino and Casanova in the second act of Kenneth Tindall’s Casanova nearly stopped my heart. It is one of the most beautiful pas de deux I’ve ever photographed. I don’t think I have ever been so affected by dance as I was with this.
In Act Two of the ballet Casanova is based in Paris with his benefactor Madame de Pompadour. He auditions musicians for a party and Bellino is hired. Casanova, uncertain of her true gender, is intrigued by her. Bellino admires Casanova’s serious interests as a writer, and in in this pas de deux trusts him enough to reveal that she is a woman.
Kenny described this pas de deux as about masks, hiding the truth, and trust. ‘Masking and hiding was a strong motif throughout the ballet. Bellino is masquerading as a Castrato, hiding her true self which is what fascinates Casanova when they meet. Movements that hide/reveal, open/close, trust/guard became an important springboard for creating those duets.’
Dreda Blow performed this pas de deux with Giuliano Contadini approximately forty times when it premiered in 2017 with Northern Ballet and described this exceptional off balance back bend moment as both terrifying and exciting. She said, ‘It got less terrifying and exhilarating as time went by and we knew the mechanics for it to be safe. I could then let go of the fear and really indulge in the moment and it became fun. I was in good hands with Giuliano though. He would never let me fall, never let me hurt myself. I just had to be brave.’
Kenny explained how, ‘He sets her free to be a woman, to be a soprano singer, which is a beautiful side to Casanova. That he’s not a bed notch libertine, but someone that actually elevates and helps women to move onto the next stage. That was a really important part of our story to tell.’
Dreda described how, ‘The music told the story so beautifully for this duet. We just needed to ride the wave of energy. It was so powerful when played by the orchestra – it gave us everything we needed. It carried me night after night, show after show!’

Tulsa Ballet will be performing ‘Casanova – The Man Behind the Mask’ March 26-29 at The Tulsa Performing Arts Centre, Oklahoma

15/01/2026

07/01/2026

The Art of Dance – Harvey Ewards 1947-2024

I was saddened to learn that artist Harvey Edwards had died last October. His ballet photography was always an inspiration to me.
‘A random encounter with a dancer on the street in Los Angeles inspired Harvey to start photographing ballet, a chance event that would culminate in the creation of the now-renowned images Leg Warmers, Hands, and Slippers.
Taking advantage of the access granted by his cousin, the American Ballet Theater dancer Bruce Marks, Harvey put his photographic skills in service of laying bare the unrelenting work and determination required to become a professional dancer. Shooting for several years at The Joffrey Ballet, New York City Ballet, American Ballet Theater, Boston Ballet, and the Dance Theater of Harlem, the photographs that followed captured the brutal work of dancers, before the make-up and behind the perfected performances. The images he produced were not the glossed, public-facing veneers meant to hide the labor of practice; they revealed the beauty of practice alone. The collection of photographs from this period would form his next book, “The Art of Dance,” published by Little Brown. These images have become a staple of our visual grammar regarding dance and the unseen, often unacknowledged, determination required to pursue a meaningful craft.
‘He often said, “Without art, what is life.” This was an internal truth that oriented his life with a consuming sense of immediacy. As much as a person can be defined by a single facet of their life, in the multitudes a person may contain, he was an artist before anything else. For Harvey, art was less a career than a condition—an innate, inescapable response to being alive.’

https://www.pomierskifuneralhome.com/obituaries/harvey-edwards