When I arrived, I saw a poster in the window with this astonishing image of my teacher:
I'd thought she was quite lovely in class, but this was a whole 'nuther level of radiant gorgeousness.
At that time, my only interest in bellydance was for exercise.
The very concept of my pursuing it seriously as a professional art, given my size, age, lack of serious dance training, and more disqualifiers than I could list ... it was, well, inconceivable for me ... even more so as I gaped at this poster, thinking, "That could never, ever, ever be me."
The image stuck with me, though, as did Darshan's performance that night.
On a superficial level... yes, she was beautiful and graceful, as well as an engaging performer.
But there was something else, something about the dance itself that struck and engaged my cement-cold aching viscera.
There was something about this dance ... the way it honors and celebrates the body -- a woman's body -- in its natural state, that brought out inarticulable levels of beauty in this already very beautiful woman.
And it occured to me that the image was not merely the working of a skillful artist making his subject into some hairy-fairy image of conventional gorgeousness.
Rather, he brought out the very depth of loveliness I saw in her dance.
"Usually my images are not of dancers dancing," the photographer, Jerry Bezdikian, told me years later, "They are of dancers dreaming of the dance."
Over those years, I did dream of dancing; and I dreamed of growing enough as a person, a dancer, and a woman, to embody that very essence.
As luck had it, Jerry happened to attend one of my performances earlier this year.
I spoke to him afterwards and, to my shock, he liked my work.
And we got to talking... and I told him that I'd enjoyed his work for years, but didn't think I was "good enough" to pose for him.
And he told me I was out of my f**king mind.
We scheduled a shoot the next day.
Below are some of the extraordinary images he created from that threefold session: One outdoor, in plainclothes (for acting and comedy), and one for bellydance.
And so, without further ado... Enjoy!!
From the indoor session...
A headshot:
And these stunning works of art:
From the outdoor session:
Note the sharpened foreground and gently blurred background -- not an easy effect!
This design was inspired by a Portuguese song, "Beijo de Saudade" -- "Kiss of Longing":
new.music.yahoo.com/ana-maria/tracks/beijo-de-saudade--17...
And, of course, there is this stunner, which he used for the breathtaking design for PURE Pandemonium:
(My make-up, incidentally, was done by the incomparable Jade ElHaddad.)
To see more of Jerry's work, please go to his website, or check out his galleries on Facebook.
And THANK YOU, JERRY!!
