Tina Gutierrez: Illumination

In these underwater photographs by Tina Gutierrez, the beauty in the movement of dancers and their ability to adapt to an underwater environment can be directly attributed to their rigorous training and ballet culture. Unknown to most, dancers’ careers often end before they reach the age of 30. Authoritarian power structures, intensely competitive training and performing environments, and hypercritical, perfectionist attitudes contribute to the pressures dancers endure. While initially this can appear to facilitate success, it ultimately compromises the health of performers. 

Ballet is a ‘culture of risk’ that normalizes pain and injury, and encourages dancers to understand and talk about their pain in ways that both suppress and trivialize it. The negative emotional consequences, such as feelings of crisis, loss, shame, guilt, and anxiety force dancers to accept the often unhealthy conventions of the dance subculture. 

The submerged environment of Illumination, reflects the talents and elegance of dancers, while simultaneously highlighting the intense and dangerous environment within the ballet culture. 

Curator: Sandy Eichert, Resident Curator