Oberon's Grove: Images of Vanessa Zahorian

San Francisco Ballet principal dancer Davit Karapetyan has captured a remarkable series of images of the ballerina Vanessa Zahorian. When I saw the pictures on Facebook I was captivated and so I contacted Vanessa and asked if I could share some of them on my blog.

Click on each photo for an enhanced view.

Dancers often take the most extraordinary photos of other dancers: here in New York City we have Matt Murphy, Erin Baiano and Kyle Froman each producing great dance photography. Davit Karapetyan's imaginative settings - and his beautiful subject - make these among the best.

When San Francisco Ballet visited New York City in October 2008, Vanessa Zahorian and Davit Karapetyan were among the many outstanding dancers on the Company's roster. Originally planning to only see one performance I ended up going four times and wishing I'd gone more. SFB brought a very rich repertoire, and their international roster of dancers immediately served notice of not only high technical merit but fascinating dance personalities, right down to those in the corps. This was one of my favorite experiences with SFB. I felt blue after they left and I actually missed the dancers; I really wish they would come back!

Soon to open in San Francisco: a mixed bill including Ratmansky's RUSSIAN SEASONS. How I would love to see the SFB dancers in that!

My thanks to Vanessa and Davit for letting me post these photographs. I wish them and their colleagues a successful continuation of their season.