What dancers can teach us about being photographed
what to expect
This post is for anyone who has ever stood in front of a camera and wondered what to do with your hands and felt their body go completely, inexplicably stiff. We’re going to talk about what I’ve learned from photographing Vancouver dancers (and those who love to dance!) over the years, and what you can borrow from them, even if you’ve never taken a single dance class in your life.
Over the years, I’ve had the privilege of photographing several professional contemporary dancers, many of them more than once. And every single time, I walk away from those sessions genuinely moved. Not because the images are technically perfect. Not because every frame is flawless. But because of what happens when someone truly embodies themselves, when they stop thinking about how they look and start feeling what they want to express.
I know what you might be thinking: that’s great for them. They’ve trained for years. I can barely walk into a room without second-guessing my entrance.
I hear you. And I want to offer you something anyway, and I hope you read this with an open mind knowing this is possible for you too!
Oh and for the record I truly believe that we as humans all the ability to connect with the power of sound, to be moved by a beat, and that ‘dance’ doesn’t need to look like one particular thing (we are not talking ballet here people!). Honestly we are all dancers, if we believe we are.
tl;dr
Yes it’s true that dancers have spent years practising something most of us have been quietly trained to suppress: moving freely, expressing openly, and letting their bodies tell the truth. The good news?
You don’t need the training to access a little of that energy. You just need to allow yourself to let go if even a little bit, and a really good playlist helps too. This post aims to share how I’ve seen dancers approach a photoshoot with me to help you apply these ideas for your own photoshoot.
imagine you could move freely
I can see you already clenching your jaw and thinking, me, oh hell no! But how about we put those doubts to the side and slide into our imaginations together.
I’m Brasilian and music is a big part of my culture is music and dance. Even though I grew up in Canada there was ALWAYS Brasilian music on in my house, and my mom was always dancing and singing, not because she was always full of joy, but because this is what raised her vibration from the heaviness of life.
Then came the first time I saw the Janet Jackson Rhythm Nation video (OMG that video is THE BEST!) and ever since then I have spent my life daydreaming that I was one of her backup dancers! I know that is not how I move but since my teen years I have carried that video in my heart, and never cared that I dance more like Ugly Betty than Janet Jackson, but that is the energy I try to embody regardless of how it comes out.
So let yourself wonder what it might feel like to move freely, to follow the music, to let your body say something without words. Think of a music video you love, go put on that song, close your eyes and see yourself in it, dancing like noones watching, just you in your zone not giving a shit what others think.
Maybe you are salsa dancing, maybe head banging, or jumping around with joy with your imaginary glow sticks in hand, or maybe you are flowing slowly to something with a sensual vibe like Sade (damn I love Sade!). Whatever it is, allow yourself to feel that energy of the beat, let your body start to flow.
What I’ve come to believe after years behind the lens and a full year of training in embodiment coaching through the School of Embodied Arts is that: the body already knows how to express. What blocks us isn’t inability. It’s self-judgment, and the relentless pursuit of looking “right.” And trust me I do this to myself too so this post is as much for me as it is for you.
In case you didn’t know self-judgment is a BIG creativity and joy killer.
And let’s be honest, a photo session isn’t going to unblock everything that life has layered onto you, though I sure as hell wish it could. What a photoshoot can do is offer a genuine invitation to play and be curious about yourself. Since we are here imagining things, how about we imagine setting down the self-monitoring for an hour to see what’s actually alive in you on that particular day. How about you try that right now…
Feeling the energy percolating through you, maybe your shoulders are even starting to bounce a bit… now doesn’t that feel good!
what can we actually learn from dancers?
Permission to move in ways that feel weird.
Dancers know that the most interesting shapes often feel awkward from the inside. They’ve learned to trust the process over the immediate sensation. Some of the most artistically alive images I’ve made came from a moment that may have felt weird in the moment, yet was truly electric in the frame.
The power of a playlist.
Dancers don’t just show up and perform. They warm up, they find their music, they let sound move through them before they move themselves. In my sessions, we put music on. We literally dance throughout the photoshoot shoot. I encourage you to build your own playlist before your session, something that makes you feel exactly the energy you want reflected back at you. As a big music lover
I know that this is not a gimmick. It’s medicine for our soul and it works.
An understanding that every day brings a different energy.
Dancers know that what they carry into the studio on a Tuesday is different from what shows up on a Friday. In knowing dancers I also know that they too work hard to let go of their inner stories, they are not robots after all. Your portraits aren’t a performance of some fixed, perfected version of yourself. They’re an embodied expression of where you are right now, and that’s actually the whole point.
Letting the body lead, not the inner critic.
Folds, wrinkles, the way your shirt sits are all worries people bring into my studio and all of that is real, and all of it is fine. Every single body folds. Every single body shifts. The images I love most are never the ones where someone was perfectly composed. They’re the ones where someone forgot to worry about it.
The Takeaway
You don’t have to be a dancer to bring that energy into your portraits. You just have to be willing to get a little curious about yourself, and the hardest part is that you have to TRY to be a little less attached to looking correct, whatever the heck that is.
Because truthfully that’s where the good stuff lives.
I have yet to meet one person in my life that doesn’t like music, sure it might not be the same as what I like, but I can bet you that you have music that moves you, that touches your heart and soul. So let those sounds be your guiding energy for your photoshoot. If you are looking for emotive portraits that feel creative over posed I can assure you this will help, and don’t forget to bring your playlist with you when you book your photoshoot!
Thanks for Reading!
Hi, I’m Michele Mateus, award-winning photographer based in Vancouver, BC creating bold, evocative, editorial portraits for people who want anything but ordinary.
If something here hit the right note, let’s talk!
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