Movement at the Still Point

Renowned portrait photographer Mark Mann documents an impressive host of dancers—their eloquent bodies in posed tranquility and vibrant motion—representing years of excellence and varied disciplines of the art form.

A celebration of the strength and emotive ability of dancers, this book is a collection of images that captures the dynamism and energy of the mediums of both dance and photography. In homage to Mann’s hero Irving Penn, he installed a backdrop of old monochromatic muslin. Dancers from many genres—ballet, jazz, African, tap, Broadway theater, hip-hop, ballroom—perform and discuss their passions about the art form in this stark environment.

Mann captures the humanity and spontaneity of principal and lead dancers from the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, American Ballet Theatre, Martha Graham Dance Company, New York City Ballet, and many other troupes. Subjects include dance personalities Misty Copeland, Carmen de Lavallade, Tiler Peck, Chita Rivera, James Whiteside, Omari Wiles, Xin Ying, and many others.

As a photographer, Mann is used to working hard at making something happen in his images; here, he has taken a slightly more passive role, witnessing and capturing the expressive and talented subjects that take control of each frame. This book is a testament to the emotional and physical power of each dancer, in stillness and in motion.