Ballet is a private world—a safe, enchanted sanctuary of splendor and grace. I am hardly noticed when I am shooting dancers taking class or backstage during rehearsals, for a dancer's world is focused and exclusive. For me, however, it is an opportunity to “hunt” my prey, to capture perfection, and to achieve photography's great orgasmic opportunity—“the decisive moment.” I have photographed the great dancers from both American Ballet Theatre and the Bolshoi. The fact that these dancers are young, beautiful, gifted with talent and all striving for perfection makes those decisive moments seem everyday.

Most of these images were done during the 2007 season for my book, In Classic Style: The Splendor of American Ballet Theatre. Others came from The Book of Ballet: Learning and Appreciating the Secrets of Dance which was published in 2003 and the first book I did for ABT published in 1995.

Here is ABT Principal Dancer, Gillian Murphy, in Cinderella looking like a Vargas pinup!