Exhibition · 2018

Ballerina Project New York — Strut Your Stuff

Long Island, New York

In my own words

Ballerinas fascinated me not on stage but off it. On rooftops, on crosswalks, in the two seconds before a taxi horn. Everything they do on stage is controlled to the millimetre; I wanted the millisecond where control lets go.

New York gave me the backdrop — concrete, steam, that hard morning light between buildings. The dancers gave everything else. There is a particular kind of courage in doing a perfect arabesque on a filthy street corner while the city ignores you completely.

Gallery

Works from the exhibition

Four young women in black outfits pose dynamically in front of parked NYPD Traffic cars, black and white.
A dancer leaps mid-air on a city sidewalk with orange balloons and hair flying behind her.
Close-up of a dancer's legs and pointed bare feet beneath a flowing blue skirt.
Young woman in a knit sweater poses with arms outstretched against a concrete wall, black and white.
A dancer in black reclines dramatically on stone steps in front of columned government building, one arm extended.
Silhouette of a woman stretching one leg up on a boardwalk railing overlooking a sandy beach.
A dancer leaps on the beach holding an orange and a yellow scarf that stream in the wind against a stormy sky.
A dancer strikes a pose on an escalator handrail while two women in coats descend behind her, black and white.
A dancer in a black dress arches backward over a fallen tree branch on the beach, hair flying, ocean behind her.
A woman with tousled hair dances beside a floor lamp and a low bench in a bright room, black and white.
Overhead view of a dancer reaching up a metal staircase railing, gazing at the camera.
Silhouette of a dancer in arabesque pose against a bright sky above a boardwalk railing.
A dancer bends dynamically at a city crosswalk, hair flowing, as a Goya delivery truck passes in the background.
Silhouette of a young woman leaning back over a wooden fence railing, hair blown sideways, black and white.
A dancer leaps joyfully along a wooden boardwalk pier with the ocean and grey sky in the background.
A young woman does the splits on a museum staircase, arms outstretched, black and white.
A dancer with windblown hair smiles on a sunny beach, wearing a beige top.
A dancer leaps through billowing clouds of powder in a city street at dusk, arms raised.
Silhouette of a dancer under an overpass making a peace sign, reflected in a rain-soaked pavement.
A dancer in camouflage top does the splits on a marina railing beside a humorous "Zombie Parking" sign.
A dancer leaps on the beach with one leg bent, sand scattering into the air behind her.
A woman in a purple dress sits on a rooftop chimney ledge with one leg extended, city building behind her.
Two dancers in blue tops bend backward on a boardwalk, hair intertwining, holding hands.
A dancer leaps beside a modern building and abstract public sculpture, black and white.
A dancer lunges low in a crosswalk as traffic streaks past on a busy city street.
A dancer leans back with one arm raised on a wooden fence rail, hair streaming, black and white.
A dancer in blue leaps high on a wooden boardwalk pier beside beach cabins, smiling with arms raised.
A dancer in black poses on museum steps with legs apart, an afro hairstyle and adidas track jacket.
A dancer with windblown hair smiles brightly on a beach, arms open, ocean behind her.
A dancer leaps mid-air near scaffolding and a warning barrier on a city street, dust rising below.
Silhouette of a young woman raising a peace sign under a bridge underpass, reflected in a wet ground.
A dancer in camouflage top does the splits on a marina railing beside a humorous "Zombie Parking" sign, boats behind her.
A dancer leaps with one leg raised behind her on a sandy beach under a cloudy sky.
A woman in a purple dress sits gracefully on a rooftop ledge with legs crossed, historic building behind her.
Two dancers bend backward toward each other on a boardwalk, hands touching, hair streaming down.
A dancer leaps in an arabesque beside an abstract public sculpture, black and white.
A dancer bends dynamically on a city street between a van and a moving truck, hair flowing.
A ballerina in a black tutu extends one leg along the Brooklyn Bridge railing, city skyline behind her, black and white.
A young woman in a white hoodie sits on stone steps with one leg extended along the railing, smiling.
A dancer in ripped jeans arches backward into a split on a concrete floor indoors.
A dancer arches backward with one leg on a boardwalk railing, hair blowing, arms extended.
A ballerina in a black tutu poses smiling on a pier railing at sunset, Manhattan skyline behind her.
A dancer arches backward on a stone balustrade terrace overlooking a manicured lawn and avenue of trees.
A ballerina in a black leotard poses en pointe on the deck of a small fishing boat at dusk, smiling.
A ballerina in a black tutu leaps in an arabesque on museum steps beside a stone lion statue, black and white.
A young woman in a floral top and black leggings poses on a rooftop terrace, hair blowing, city skyline behind her.
A woman in a black shirt sits on a stool holding a beer bottle in a living room, black and white.
A dancer arches backward into a split on a sandy beach under a heavily clouded sky.

© Norbert Bánhalmi / BANHALMI. All rights reserved. Images from the BANHALMI archive, 1999–2026.

Press & media

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Why it belongs here

Why it belongs here

How it connects to the wider work

Ballerinas fascinated me not on stage but off it. On rooftops, on crosswalks, in the two seconds before a taxi horn.

Period of the oeuvre

III2017–2018The body as memory, illness and recovery

Read about this period

Connected records

Presence-research period · IV

Institutions, books and exhibitions

This exhibition belongs here because of the question behind it, the photographs it brought together and the traces it left in public.

Archive overviewInstitutions, books and exhibitions Press and moving imageBallerina Project New York — Strut Your Stuff Curatorial dossierResearch context