FREE 9+ Dance Photography Ideas

“A series of rhythmic and patterned bodily movements usually performed to music,” according to Merriam-Webster, dance has been around for ages, getting different kinds of people together and encouraging self-expression on a totally different level.

Such an art form has captivated many an audience through the years that it is no surprise that it’s found its way into Modern Art Photography. That and the likes of Margot Fonteyn keeping people’s eyes glued onto her with a series of fouettés.

It’s as clear as day here in our array of dance photographs, so breathtaking that you’ll surely be inspired to recreate some (or all) of them. So stretch those limbs, put on your pointe shoes, and get into first position!

Outside Dance Photography

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Modern Dance Photography

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Dance Beach Photography

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Hip Hop Dance Photography

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All the Right Moves

Since the conception of dance, through the years, it has been subdivided into several genres and subgenres. Of course, the more popular ones are the following:

• Ballet. This is the oldest of the three as it dates back to the Renaissance, around the 1500s. (You may have seen some Stock Photography or Vintage Photography stills of ballerinas executing a perfect grand jeté.) This genre has been considered as fundamental, the foundation of those that came after—like a preparatory course for contemporary and jazz, to name a few.

• Hip-hop. Emerging at the end of the 1970s along with the music genre rap, hip-hop started out as an underground urban movement. Now it’s still very much alive and present in pop culture, even. It has even taken different variations and has various subgenres (e.g., lyrical hip-hop, krump, turfin’, jerkin’, etc.) branching out from it.

• Ballroom. When they said, “It takes two to tango,” they weren’t kidding. With all its variants—like waltz, paso doble, foxtrot, samba, and a few more—ballroom is a partnered dance. It can be easily enjoyed socially or competitively. (But of course, if you and the hubs just wanna do it for kicks, no one’s stopping you.)

Street Dance Photography

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Water Dance Photography

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Wedding Dance Photography

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Pole Dance Photography

Professional Dance Photography

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Two Art Forms, One Masterpiece

As you can see in our collection of awe-inspiring dance photography stills (which you can freely download, by the way), the collaboration of dance and photography make for beautiful Digital Photography outputs. If you wanna try your hand at this as well, you may want to take note of a few things:

• Clean lines. Make sure you or your subject knows to keep lines clean. I’m talking about a smooth arched back during a freestyle jump or straight legs and arms during an arabesque.

• Black and white. For shots that have a more dramatic feel (perhaps the subject is working with a contemporary repertoire as well, already a very dramatic genre), you may want to leave it in black and white. This way, there are no other variables distracting people from the emotion in the shot.

• Bring in the elements. Go outside! Perform a commercial hip-hop routine at the park, kicking the leaves around as you do so. Do a random jeté at the beach, splashing the water beneath your feet, the wind through your hair.

Take it from these dance photographs, folks. Dance photography is a “movement” on its own.