Framing the Body in Motion

Join Joburg Ballet for the opening of Framing the Body in Motion, a new photographic exhibition series bringing ballet into conversation with photography, fashion and contemporary visual art. This special evening offers an exclusive first look at the inaugural collection, alongside a talk and Q&A with the creative team.

Presented in partnership with Candice Berman Gallery, the series pairs Joburg Ballet dancers with celebrated photographers and creative artists to explore the dancer as an individual, an artist and a cultural voice.

For this inaugural collaboration, South African photographer Kamogelo Machaba, supported by Fujifilm, captures the dancers in bespoke fashion and couture by Jacques BAM of the BAM Collective. The resulting images create a striking dialogue between the architecture of the ballet body, contemporary photography and South African design.

Curated by Joburg Ballet’s Artistic Director Dane Hurst in collaboration with Machaba and Jacques BAM, the collection reveals the dancers’ individuality, strength, vulnerability and physical presence. Colour, sculptural silhouettes and expressive gestures offer an intimate new perspective on artists usually encountered in motion.

As Machaba explains:

“The concept explores the idea of expressing motion through colour, using dance as a form of visual art. The dancers become the artwork itself — presented almost as living, moving sculptures. Through vibrant colour, form, stillness and gesture the work offers a contemporary twist on the traditional visual language of ballet photography.”

At this exclusive opening event, hear directly from Dane Hurst, Kamogelo Machaba, Jacques BAM and the dancers themselves. Through a talk and Q&A, they will discuss the ideas behind the images, the creative process that shaped them, and how the collaboration brings the dancers’ artistry into a new visual context through photography and contemporary South African fashion.

Children under 12 are free for this Opening event. The exhibition will run until 24 December 2026.

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