The ballet. Ah yes, the ballet dahling. Always so photogenic, always so inspiring.

A couple of nights ago photographing Miyako Yoshida-san’s last dance with the Royal Ballet, on assignment here in Tokyo, Japan, got me thinking about other ballet assignments I’ve had, or my moments with ballerinas (sadly, few…).

But a few years back I did photograph Russian ballerina Maya Plisetskaya. “Who?” you ask. Well, I used to think the same, and even the night I was photographing her, as she received the 2006 Praemium Imperiale Arts Award here in Tokyo, I was thinking the same. But one quick nanosecond google of her name, when you’re searching for keywords for archiving brings up an impressive, not to be taken lightly, (Maya Plisetskaya) resume…and I quote “one of the greatest ballerinas of the 20th century”, “dancer with the Bolshoi Ballet”…

You can see Maya Plisetskaya dance as “The Dying Swan” here, and see my photographs of Maya Plisetskaya here.

Jeez, I should have shot more, or perhaps time for a re-edit of the initial take. But what I can say is in the very few moments I spent with her she did seem like a warm and friendly person. She get’s my vote.