Will Disney's New Little Mermaid Be Part Of Your World, Or Is She #NotMyAriel?

Art by Denver Balbaboco (click name for portfolio link)
IG: denvertakespics (see IG & image details at this link)

Halle Bailey is to be Disney's newest princess as Ariel in the upcoming Disney live-action "The Little Mermaid"

"It was abundantly clear that Halle possesses that rare combination of spirit, heart, youth, innocence, and substance — plus a glorious singing voice — all intrinsic qualities necessary to play this iconic role," said (Director Rob) Marshall. 

Exactly what Disney's live-action Little Mermaid needs to be - right?

Surprisingly Mer-ky Waters Stirred By Announcement

Artist: Alice X. Zhang
Halle Bailey as The Little Mermaid
(complete with red hair)

The announcement that black actress Halle Bailey (star of Grown·ish, half of the R&B duo Chloe x Halle) is set to star as Ariel in Disney's live-action The Little Mermaid has certainly polarized social media. While multitudes celebrated Disney supporting diversity in their live-action casting of a classic and beloved film, the #NotMyAriel hashtag took off in almost the same moment. In the too-long list of complaints, they appear to center around the change in look and image of a figure people have loved - and identified with - since they were kids. But that's kind of the point. People have seen themselves in Ariel for almost two generations, with the emphasis on "selves". When the disgruntled began to cite culture*, history, and even science (!) it became clear that these objections were actually outing a privileged and endemically racist viewpoint. For those watching, it should be noted that the #NotMyAriel reaction is not coming from kids. Kids across the board are responding with excitement. The disgruntled demographic is embarrassingly specific: 30yrs+ white women.

The "original Ariel", Jodi Benson, raised her voice on the matter too:

“I think that the spirit of a character is what really matters," (Benson) replied. "What you bring to the table in a character as far as their heart, and their spirit, is what really counts."  

Benson talked about how channeling Ariel's inner spirit is how she herself has been able to step into the role over the years, despite getting older: 

"And the outside package — cause let’s face it, I’m really, really old — and so when I’m singing "Part of Your World," if you were to judge me on the way that I look on the outside, it might change the way that you interpret the song. But if you close your eyes, you can still hear the spirit of Ariel. “We need to be storytellers," she concluded. "And no matter what we look like on the outside, no matter our race, our nation, the color of our skin, our dialect, whether I’m tall or thin, whether I’m overweight or underweight, or my hair is whatever color, we really need to tell the story.” (Source: combookmovie.com)

If it really comes down to "a certain look" that about puts it in a n̶u̶t̶shell and then to bed. (See what we did there? OK, sorry - moving on...) Unfortunately, if you look beyond the surface, it's easy to see that is only part of the issue here.

Doing our best to get all sides of the story, our Fairy Tale News Hounds spent a long time reading through multiple responses to the news on various social media outlets and were very glad to find that there are many white voices being raised in support of sharing - and representing - the magic they felt as five-year-olds with children of every color, especially those with dark skin.

One response in particular melted our hearts.
This is it:

 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

That was a bit of a roller-coaster read, so we will now have a brief

--Intermission--

with some beautiful baby black mermaids

           

These lovely little merkids are by illustrator Raissa Figueroa, aka @Rizzyfig on Instagram. She created a series on this little afro-haired mermaid for Mermay one year and so many people fell in love with this little character that she's kept on drawing her and boosted her whole illustration career as a result.

You can purchase a print of these beautiful baby mers on Etsy HERE.

You can also follow her on Twitter and get in-process or glimpses of new sketches HERE.

 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Intermission Over ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Don't Worry: Classic Ariel Will Not Die - Ever

The level of distress on social media about the live-action casting is downright odd for another reason. Having a new black Ariel, does NOT remove, erase, eclipse, or in any way 'undo' the fact that red-haired, white-skinned Ariel exists. She will always exist. For thirty years this very Western image has represented the Little Mermaid story (thanks to Disney's worldwide influence). If you judged from the outrage evident in response to casting a live-action black actress and singer in the role, you would think these distressed Ariel fans think "their" Ariel would no longer exist, but that will never be. Both characters are Disney. Both are/will be lucrative properties for the Disney marketing department and they're not about to let a proven cash cow of 30 solid years disappear. When assured that the classic Ariel won't disappear, all that's left is that those who are attached to "their" Ariel just want all the new shiny for themselves. Put that way, the negative responses begin to look... well... spoiled. Eep.

Annie Leibovitz photography fro Disney Dream Portraits, featuring Julianne Moore as Ariel

Classic Ariel "In The Flesh"

Parody poster of Mera (artist unknown)

Amber Heard as The Little Mermaid, all grown up

But let's play devils' advocate for a minute and talk about representing the original classic, that is, Ariel with white skin and red hair. What look-alikes do "Ariel purists" have? See below for an "off-the-top-of-our-heads" list (not conclusive by a long shot):

• Disneyland & Disney World/s live Ariel character performers (for 30 years)
• The Little Mermaid musical - the title role in the big Disney version/s and the school-approved versions
• Every Disney Little Mermaid Halloween/roleplay/cosplay costume ever
• All the Ariel dolls
• Not to mention her image on hundreds of products
• The Annie Leibovitz poster photo of Julianne More as Ariel for Disney Dream Portraits (and Queen Latifah as Ursula)
• Once Upon A Time's live-action Ariel  - a repeat role in the series (played by JoAnna Garcia Swisher) - note that this version is on film and includes many iconic scenes from the classic movie as they fit the story being told
• Mera from DC's Aquaman 2018

Wait! Mera isn't even Disney and isn't Ariel! Why is she included?? Here's the reality: even though the character is not owned by Disney, the new live-action Mera looked exactly like (quote) "Ariel on crack", all grown-up and ready to fight and rule by her own merits. In fact, if Disney had decided to use a "spitting image human" of the animated Ariel she would look an awful lot like Mera (although younger and more naive), with the disadvantage that Disney's Ariel would look rather wimpy next to her. Mera is totally badass and a now a feminist icon in her own right. A live-action Ariel who looked similar would always be compared to her. We suspect Disney marketing folks are quite aware of this, just as they were very aware of needing to distance the new mermaid, aka Ariel, being created at Disney Feature Animation from Darryl Hannah's blonde mermaid sensation in the 1984 hit-movie Splash. A Splash sequel )(Splash, Too) was also in the works when The Little Mermaid was pitched and the to-be-animated-classic was "temporarily nixed" as a result: "Too many mermaids!" said the then-CEO, though that decision was later reversed. Eventually, the reasons for giving Ariel red hair, rather than blonde, were a) not like Darryl Hannah and b) because red is a complementary color - that is, opposite - of green (the mermaid tail). Yes, folks - that is the main reason Ariel became a red-head instead of the expected blonde. Red was not chosen for ginger-representation. It was for marketing.

Why did we bother with this list? There are many already-awesome options to choose from, should folks need a human-looking version of the classic Ariel to still feel 'represented'. Truly, there is such an abundance - why is it the 'purists' feel they are 'owed' (not our term!) the new live-action movie too?

Disney's Black Mermaid Trial Run

ABC OUAT special episode promo poster

 Tiffany Boone as young Ursula
with mer-tail (pre-tentacles)
(OUAT ep 4:11)

This seems like a good time to remind folks that Disney already had a successful trial run with a black Ariel-like mermaid**. The very popular Disney-owned and based series Once Upon A Time, was known for looking into classic characters and exploring their backstories, always with a twist on the trope. Villains weren't exempt from the treatment and often the black and white villains ended up eliciting sympathy from the viewers regarding their own difficult pasts and bad decisions (making it very possible for many of them to be redeemed). With Ariel having made an appearance in a couple of episodes, it wasn't unexpected that Ursula would appear too and that fans would learn how she came to be the villain she was known to be. In an inspired twist, it turned out Ursula's story was actually a Little Mermaid tale. 

 Tiffany Boone as young Ursula
on land (OUAT ep 4:11)

The exploration was short and kept within a single episode, which meant it didn't get as much media coverage as a story with a multi-episode arc. As a result, it's a great pity the episode "Poor Unfortunate Soul" didn't get more attention. In the OUAT "twist" Ursula was originally a beautiful young, black mermaid. She's seen with tail and fins, on land with two human legs and eventually transforms into having those classic and villainous tentacles. Fans loved it all. While it should be noted that OUAT included a red-headed, white-skinned Ariel (and her Prince Eric) in their character line-up throughout the series (and in the same episode!) to be on the safe side, Ursula's own mermaid story of a girl finding her feet and her voice was beautifully written, poignant, unexpected and immensely satisfying in its exploration of multiple issues and their resolution. While OUAT was inconsistent on many fronts throughout the series and draws a lot of criticism, it did have many moments where it struck a chord, was truly revisionist and a perfect exploration of the fairy tale in its pop culture era. Ursula's backstory as the "original" Little Mermaid was one of those.

Ursula and Uncomfortable Truths

"Mary Belle and the Mermaid" illustration by Leo & Diane

from Her Stories: African American Folktales, Fairy Tales, and True Tales by Virginia Hamilton

(Coretta Scott King Author Award Winner)

With Melissa McCarthy now confirmed for the role of Ursula, we're already holding our breath for that moment when the white lady takes away the black girl's voice... yikes! 

But perhaps that's what Disney and Director Rob Marshall are planning to acknowledge and explore. Although women as a whole have had it tough for the majority of written history, when it comes to inequality it must be acknowledged that white women are not completely blameless. It would seem it's a hard conversation to have but that makes it worth having all the more. The negative reaction to the casting of Halle Bailey as Ariel by a rather large (and vocal) demographic has been surprising, and uncovered a hidden white-privilege mindset among long-time (mostly female) fans - women who believe themselves to be progressive, inclusive and 'woke'.

That the negative response to Disney's casting of Halle Bailey was - and is - so very emotional and feels personal to those objecting is a clue to just how endemic white privilege is and that's a scary thing, especially seeing it come from intelligent people you know and love, and, let's be honest, in some cases ourselves. To be clear, there is no doubt many of these women are much more progressive than their predecessors but that doesn't mean there isn't still (a lot of) work to do. That this is happening at all should make it clear that this issue needs to be addressed, and attitudes - and assumptions - reassessed. Now. While we will admit we were hoping a wonderful drag queen (with all the singing and acting chops) would be cast in the villain's role to nod to the character's original inspiration (Harris Glenn Milstead, better known as Devine), putting a powerful white woman in the antagonist role opposite a lovely young black heroine is going to resonate... 

Uncomfortable? Yes. 
Worth the trouble and ruffled feathers (er scales)? Absolutely.

Congratulations Halle!
We are so here for this movie!

Disney's live-action feature film, The Little Mermaid, is scheduled to go into production in 2020.

*A Short Reference List on Mermaids & Mermaid Tales From Around the World

Every country with a coast has their version of mermaid tales but many of those mermaids look a little different than the popular images we've gotten used to. Here are some resources for you to find some different mermaid tales

BOOKS:

A Treasury of Mermaids: Mermaid Tales from Around the World – a diverse cultural collection of tales by folklorist Shirley Climo

Mermaid and Other Water Spirit Tales From Around the World (Surlalune Fairy Tale series) by Heidi Anne Heiner

Mermaid Tales From Around the World by Mary Pope Osborne

The Annotated African American Folktales edited by Henry Louis Gates, Maria Tatar, includes a mermaid tale with annotations

ONLINE RESOURCES:

• Becoming Mermaids - American Museum of Natural History  (Note the Australian Yawk Yawk - looked like a typical mermaid -half-human, half-fish, well before any European influence)
• 9 Mermaid Legends From Around the World (Mentalfloss)
• Mermaid Tales Appear in Myths Around the World - Arnhem Land Included  (ABC.net.au)
• Mami Wata, the most celebrated mermaid-like deity from Africa who crossed over to the West (face2faceafrica.com)
• Goddess Yemaja (a personal blog)
• Mermaids Around the World That Are Far From Dream Girls (BuzzFeed)
• The Cultural Significance of Mermaids Around the World (Mermaids of Earth - website dedicated to mermaids around the globe - lore, art, tales, influence, enjoyment and ocean conservation)
• Part 1
• Part II

** Other Disney "Trial-Runs" On OUAT:

• black Rapunzel (huge hit! though they also had a white version as well)
• female Jack (of the famous beanstalk)
• lesbian Mulan (& Dorothy - a nice nod to the LGBTQ community and their famed love of the MGM movie)
• a maternal Maleficent (which the Disney live-action movie also used)
• a Latina Cinderella

The whole season 8 of OUAT had the Latina Cinderella (Jacinda) as the main character, with the premise of the eighth season being that there are multiple versions of the same fairy tale across universes - a valiant effort for inclusivity though a little late in the show's popularity to make a huge difference. Still, it showed that some people were considering the same stories with a different look, and that's a huge step toward inclusivity and diversity.

For further reading, you may enjoy

• this Twitter thread on Medieval mermaids (a fun examination of the logic behind the folks citing historical reasons to keep Ariel white) 
• an amusing recap of ABC Once Upon A Time's episode "Poor Unfortunate Souls" (some familiarity with the main characters in the OUAT series will be helpful, but not essential to the Ursula backstory/plot as it's essentially a stand-alone story)
• 'The Little Mermaid': A Milestone in Colorblind Casting, but Black Fairy Tales Need Representation Too - there are a LOT of black fairy tales that could use a little love from Hollywood
• article from the Washington Post explaining the social media tumult of the black casting of Halle as Ariel and explaining why a strong black mermaid is part of black people's ancient traditions in Mami Wata - Africa celebrated black mermaids long before Disney and #NotMyAriel

Mermaids, of course, don’t belong to one region. The earliest fish-women emerged in southwestern Asia’s ancient Mesopotamia, said Sarah Peverley, a cultural historian at the University of Liverpool in England.
“But almost every culture has a version of a mermaid,” she said. “They come in all shapes, sizes and skin color.”
When the Danish author Hans Christian Andersen published “The Little Mermaid” in 1837, people across Africa were already swapping tales about Mami Wata. (Washington Post)

Update on Various Live Action 'Little Mermaid's

This post is not about the Disney live action in the making. That's only recently been confirmed as a legitimate project and everything around it is very hush, hush at present. As we all know, however, there are others in the works...

In particular, we have been very interested in the live action movie by a different studio, Universal, said to follow Hans Christian Andersen's story much more faithfully, which originally had Sofia Coppola attached to direct. (We are sadly certain it would have been amazing... sigh.)

It's been in the works a long time now and has looked so promising, so often, only to have continual setbacks. Coppola resigning was a big blow to high hopes across the board for a truly interesting film (especially after the first casting of a transgender supermodel Andrej Pejic as one of the mermaid sisters). She cited creative differences, especially with regard to wanting to cast an unknown in the lead role. Most recently in September, Chloe Grace Moretz, chosen to star in the title role by the following (and currently attached) director, Rebecca Thomas, also quit the project (and many others), for personal reasons. (The Moretz pictures in this post are from her Facebook earlier this year, showing her initial enthusiasm for the project.)

Chloe Grace Moretz

With the movie originally planned for release in 2017, up till as late as the middle of this year, what's happening with it now? It's a little difficult to tell. much of the original information has disappeared, even from general production news and casting sites. Director Rebecca Thomas, is still attached and while there's been no official word on Pejic pulling out, she's no longer listed as attached either, but that's all that seems to be confirmed.

It gets confusing quickly with at least two other indie Little Mermaids set to release in 2017, not to mention that Disney has now confirmed they'll be doing a live action adaptation of their own animated classic.

The most interesting of the films, at present, is family film adaptation by MVP, with Poppy Drayton (The Shannara Chronicles) starring as the mermaid, and film legend Shirley McLaine. Here's the description:

Poppy Drayton, promo pic
for The Little Mermaid

(The) story follows a young orphan (Peralta) who discovers a beautiful and enchanting creature (played by Drayton) she believes to be the real “Little Mermaid.” MacLaine portrays Eloise, an eccentric woman who has intimate knowledge of the story. 

“We’re thrilled to be launching MVP Studios with ‘A Little Mermaid,’ a magical adventure that uses the beloved fairy tale as its jumping off point, but is an all-new story with all-new characters that the entire family can enjoy,” the producers said in a statement.

While it sounds like a fun fantasy film for the family, it seems doubtful this will have Little Mermaid fans as excited as they could be, since neither the plot of HCA's fairy tale will be followed, nor will it reflect the Disney film.

What it does tell us, though, is that there is a lot of mermaid and water-folk buzz in the film industry at present. Between all the various adaptations, a selkie film, Disney confirming their live action adaptation and the announcement that Disney/Touchstone's Splash is getting a remake (why?), we're set for much water magic at the box office in the next couple of years.

Cabinet des Fées Releases A Wonderfully Gorgeous Issue in "Something Rich & Strange" (Review of Vol 1, Issue 2, Aug 2015)

A preview of what's to come TOMORROW!

Thanks to the kind folk at Papaveria Press for generously giving me a wonderful preview of Cabinet des Fées' latest sea-themed anthology of short works and poetry, and allowing me to gift myself with a lovely post on my birthday, in announcing the release slightly early, complete with permission to give you sneak peeks - of my choice! - at some of the wonderful writing!

'Presents' (aka excerpts) are below...

But first a look at the 'greeting' to readers and a list of tales and tellers:

 
The whole issue is beautiful to behold and the words are captivating too. The editors and team at Papaveria Press have put a lovely combination of art together - of words, images, fantastical tales and personal reflections. It's a very beautiful feather in an already very lovely hat!

Scheherezade's Bequest Volume 1, Issue 2. SOMETHING RICH AND STRANGE: TALES FROM THE SEA called authors to draw from folktales, personal experience, and the vast ocean of the imagination to reveal selkies, mermaids, sea nymphs, the great flood, and more in this wonderful collection of short stories and poems, each one a siren song luring us into the waves. This issue continues our tradition of offering original fairy tales and retellings of the old stories that leave us with a sense of wonder, a sense that something rich and strange is always just around the corner. 

There's a wonderful variety in the volume and yet there is a consistent feel of ebb and flow as you read through the various offerings. 

Some are amusing (for instance, a trickster Shower Muse), some have a distinctly different premise to the usual mer stories (like the mysterious, fathomless Lake of San Ezequiel, appearing alongside a desert town). 


There are turns of satisfyingly happy endings and tragically true endings. 

Mixed in is a wonderfully satisfactory amount of selkie stories with an unusual perspective (like Salt, which follow the motif of salt water in all it's forms through a selkie story and the subject of consent) and riffs on The Little Mermaid too, (like Sisters that looks at the issue of mermaids and souls in the best way I've read to date) without either dominating the issue.

As I mentioned above, I was gifted with choosing some excerpts to share with you and I have to tell you this was more difficult than I at first imagined it would be!  

I've finally chosen, in the end to share just a few excerpts to show you the variety of language, since I found it so difficult to choose favorites, as well as a few of the author notes on how they came to be inspired. The author's notes are just as fascinating as the stories themselves!

Please click on the excerpts and selected author's notes to read them full size. 

I think you'll be drawn in as quickly as I was and want to keep reading.

And as for a peek at the tales... take a look below:

This is only the beginning of a truly different version of The Little Mermaid, and one you'll love, especially if you love Andersen's tale or any variant of it.

"...people were a bit like fish..." and suddenly I couldn't help but begin to make comparisons myself! This story is the story of a girl and the story of a soul... and fish.

I dearly wanted to show you more, to show you how salt weaves through the life of this seal-woman, her husband and her children but I will leave that for you to discover on your own.

I hope you've enjoyed a special preview of the issue. Thank you again to the folks at Cabinet des Fées for this lovely gift today.

The paperback issue of Something Rich and Strange - Tales From the Sea is already available to order via Amazon HERE.

Theater: Oscar Wilde's "The Fisherman And His Soul" Playing Now Through April 25 (Idaho)

The Fisherman and His Soul by Simone Rein

Boise Contemporary Theater are bringing to life an Oscar Wilde fairy tale that used to be much better known when I was a girl. The Fisherman and His Soul was one of those stories teachers interested in the classics, used to use in education, but it's been many, many years since I've seen any reference to it anywhere, apart from the odd art work here and there.

One of the great things about contemporary theater is the ability to try unconventional staging, mix up the media and, be bold in trying new approaches to old stories.

Artist unknown

The pictures you generally see for this fairy tale tend to focus on the man and the mermaid, the romance, and a somewhat sad and dark atmosphere (I've added a variety of atypical illustrations for the post on purpose). Boise Theater's adaptation appears to mix that right up. 

But before I show you their promo video, let me bring you up to speed if you're not familiar with the tale.

I'll start with the press introduction by the troupe, which seems to either expect you to know the story, or to completely surprise you by what's coming:

The Fisherman and His Soul  

Music/Shadows/Magic  (FTNH edit: take note! Shadows! Magic! This should be quite interesting...)

by Michael Baltzell and Michael Hartwell adapted from Oscar Wilde
“Every evening the young Fisherman went out upon the sea, and threw his nets into the water.” So begins the 1891 fairy tale by Oscar Wilde that will come to life on the BCT stage in the spring of 2015. What the fisherman finds in his net will get your imagination whirling: “But no fish at all was in it, nor any monster or thing of horror, but only a little Mermaid lying fast asleep.”

So, very briefly: Fisherman catches mermaid. Fisherman proposes. Mermaid says "No. You have a soul. Get rid of it. Then, I can love you." (Fisherfolk have no souls.) Fisherman learns shadows are really Souls. Fisherman cuts off his shadow. Mermaid says "yes". Soul sent away, into the world. Soul has no heart. Soul scours world; looks for ways to lure Fisherman back out of the sea... 

(You can read the whole fascinating tale HERE. Just be prepared to take a few minutes - it's not a super-quick read.)

Now that the scene is set, take a look at the promo video. It may not be quite what you expect:

To pick up from there I'll switch to a review from BoiseWeekly:

The play is visually marvelous. In the first act, the mermaid is bedecked in LED lights and crashing waves are simulated with a lightweight sheet and a high-powered fan. However, the practical effects are a sorbet for the lighting effects dominating the second act when the fisherman's soul recounts adventures of strong-arming kings, dueling imperial guards and stealing precious treasure in elaborate shadow plays that make his tall tales larger than life. 

Based on a story by Oscar Wilde, Fisherman maintains a firm grasp on weighty ideas. Wilde, who studied Greek and Roman antiquity at Oxford, was familiar with divisions of the soul and hierarchy of desires: Without a heart to guide him, the fisherman's soul appeases its basest appetites with terrible consequences. "Love," the fisherman tells his soul, "is better" than all the wisdom and riches in the world. 

... Fisherman turns a simple story into a visually and audibly vibrant spectacle sure to lure in audiences. 

(You can read the full BoiseWeekly review of the show HERE.)

The Fisherman and His Soul IV by Germano Ovani (part of a narrative series of 4)

And an additional quick summary, to include some insight into the presentation from IdahoStatesman:

"The Fisherman and His Soul" will offer a bounty of Victorian theatrical devices and storytelling motifs, such as shadow puppetry, physical theater, burlesque arts and live musical performance. They based the play on Oscar Wilde's short story about a fisherman who catches a mermaid in his net, then must choose between his love for her and his own soul.

Read more here: http://www.idahostatesman.com/2015/03/27/3719483/the-fisherman-and-his-soul.html#storylink=cpy

Oh yes! I was extremely happy to find (with a little extra digging) that they were using shadow play inspired by Wayang, traditional Indonesian shadow puppetry. I grew up regularly exposed to Balinese shadow puppetry, which is very similar, and close to my heart, so was very glad to see this! It's the perfect medium for this fairy tale.

If you'd like to go, here are the details:

The Fisherman and His Soul @ Boise Contemporary Theater

• Wednesdays-Fridays, 8 p.m. and Saturdays, 2 & 8 p.m. Continues through April 25 $26-$32

Fairy Tale News New Year's Bumper Edition: Fun fairy tale finds

• Crankbunny's Paper Puppets, Pop Up Cards and Other Paper Novelties (Etsy find: Including flying Monkey Lady, A very weird Humpty Dumpty, Key To One's Heart, Girl Pops Out of a Fish, Lady Fish Paper Puppet [mermaid] and much more)

• ADOPTABOT - The World's first robot orphanage! (Very cute characters created from found objects and looking for new homes... Just like a modern fairy tale, complete with Gepetto-type character, a,k,a, Brian Marshall, who makes unique creations, each with their own distinct personality. Also see more characters at Mr. Marshall's Flickr account HERE.)

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BACK TO: CONTENTS

Underwater Fairy Tales, Myths & Fantasies

I just discovered photographer Elena Kalis's underwater work on Flickr (known there as 'sugarock'). Her online portfolio isn't limited to underwater photos but these, in particular, are very fairy tale-like, as you can see from the small sampling I'm showing here.I recommend checking out the rest of her Flickr photostream (there are quite a few pages) as well as the gallery on her website. The images there are wonderfully artistic and almost seem to hold stories in stasis.

Ondine Ballet Goes Underwater

Well, at least for the promotional photoshoot anyway!


The ballet story of Ondine (or Undine) is about a water nymph (essentially a mermaid) who gives up her immortality when she falls in love with a human man. Endicott Studio watchers may remember Jane Yolen's Undine poem which beautifully illustrates the tragedy of her story. You may also be familiar with Arthur Rackham's gorgeous illustrations of which my favorite is shown at the bottom of this post.


In order to capture the spirit of this character from myth the dancers went underwater in full costume to be photographed. The results are stunning and memorable as you can see for yourself.

The photographer Steve Hanson is extremely gifted at photographing dancers in motion and capturing the expressiveness and vitality of the characters they're portraying. You can find his website here for a look at more of his work.

Here you can also find a short behind-the-scenes video, taken by a British news station, when Steve was shooting pictures for one of the promotional posters for the Royal Ballet's new production.


And here's the Rackham illustration as promised. He actually illustrated the whole of the story and it's worth taking a look at each one.