1 - 31 May 2020 Lisa Tomasetti
Leap Forward - The Australian Ballet in China
| Featured artist | Lisa Tomasetti |
As part of the Head On photo festival 2020, we are pleased to jointly present with Black Diamondz Leap Forward – The Australian Ballet in China, an online solo exhibition by award-winning Australian photographic artist Lisa Tomasetti.
For more than 14 years Lisa has been the official international tour photographer for the Australian Ballet, one of Australia’s largest performing arts organisations. Leap Forward features Lisa’s work from 2015 and 2018 when she travelled with the Ballet on their tour to Beijing.
Artist Statement
For the last 14 years I have been the official international tour photographer for The Australian Ballet, documenting behind the scenes one of Australia’s largest performing arts organisations while on the road.
I have traveled with the company on their tours to Paris, Tokyo, Beijing, New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco. By removing the dancers from their controlled, interior environment and placing them in the gritty urban landscapes of the cities we visited, I was interested in juxtaposing their stylised, classical theatrical form with
the everyday reality of city living. Here the dancers pirouette and leap across streets, in the heart of Beijing, surrounded by bemused NYPD officers, by Harajuku girls, or by oblivious commuters in a Tokyo train station. When placed among the general public, the spectacular athletic prowess and sculpted forms of the dancers (complete with the extravagance and delicate finery of their costumes) creates a humorous, unique and joyful take on the traditional ballet portrait, celebrating and honouring these extraordinary artists, their host cities, and the dance.
Lisa Tomasetti, 2021
