Month: September 2013

Author Jim Hines says:

In January of 2012, I decided to try posing like some of the women on fantasy cover art, as a way to try to show the exaggeration–and in some cases, the outright absurdity–of the poses.

This proved to be my most-read blog post, and led to several more photoshoots, not to mention a fundraiser that brought in more than $15,000 for the Aicardi Syndrome Foundation, two pose-offs with John Scalzi, and a group pose with myself, Pat Rothfuss, Charles Stross, John Scalzi, and Mary Robinette Kowal.


The full set is here on flickr.  If you love this, you should try reading some of his books.  My daughter and I both especially love the The Legend of Jig Dragon Slayer.

Ballerina wears knife shoes to perform en pointe.

Ballerinas are often associated with beauty, grace, and elegant human forms. In his video En Puntas (‘On Points’), however, artist Javier Perez has managed to preserve all of these elements while also portraying the dark intensity, dedication and even violence that this graceful art form can represent.

En Puntas features ballerina Amelie Segarra dancing the en pointe ballet technique (in which the performer typically dances on the points of their toes) on the tips of huge, menacing kitchen knives in an empty, darkened theater. She struggles to maintain the grace that we typically expect of ballerinas as the knives scrape and stab ever more violently at the grand piano she’s standing on. Her composure, however, is periodically broken as she lets out a scream of frustration at the intense difficulty of her performance.

Coupled with the dark and empty theater she is performing in, the video makes for anything but light viewing. The intensity, frustration and violence of her performance (literally) on the razor’s edge are a testament to the intense dedication and sometimes physical suffering required of ballet performers.

Breathtaking – be sure to watch the video.