When a 13-year-old aspiring ballerina named Sarah wanted to decorate her bedroom walls with photographs of modern dancers, she asked her parents to help her track down pictures, which launched a rather extensive search.
“We purchased books, calendars, and other photos and to our disappointment were not able to find images of the current dancers that Sarah admired,” her mother, Deborah Ory, told Gramilano. There were beautiful images of famous dancers from past generations—such as Baryshnikov or Markova, taken more than 40 years ago—but nothing of the current stars.”
So Deborah—a former dancer turned photographer/photo editor—and her fashion photographer husband, Ken Browar, launched the New York City Dance Project, setting out to take those pictures themselves. Eighteen months later, the resulting images, which the couple stage in shoot in their home studio space (a.k.a. their living room) in Brooklyn, are nothing short of breathtaking.
Of course we’re most captivated by the dancers who are jumping, jete-ing, even sitting incredibly still, in wedding dresses by New York City designer Leanne Marshall, who has both bridal and ready-to-wear lines. Anyone else suddenly inspired to take a barre class?
LEANNE MARSHALL WEDDING GOWN
Not sure about this one’s name.
WATERCOLOR WEDDING DRESS
This one is technically Ready to Wear, from the fall 2015 collection, but I love it for a bride. And a ballerina.
If you’d like to spend the afternoon getting lost in fantastic photography, follow Ken Browar and Deborah Ory and their work for the NYC Dance Project on their website and on Instagram. For more gorgeous gowns, check out Leanne Marshall’s website and Instagram.