Platonic Love Dance

New York City Ballet dancers Janie Taylor, Emilie Gerrity and Robert Fairchild are the lithe protagonists captured in photographer Tom Allen’s lyrical series of images. Shot for the latest issue of Vancouver-based culture publication The Block Magazine, the dancers performed a short ballet by choreographer and fellow NYCB member Justin Peck, inspired by Plato’s Symposium. “Through dance Justin can really showcase that chaotic search for your life partner, your true other half,” explains The Block’s Editor-in-Chief and Creative Director, James Worthington DeMolet, of Peck’s acute sensibility. “In his pieces there's a narrative quality that is full of emotion. It's the most elegant form of storytelling.” This is The Block’s second collaboration with Peck, whose work translates just as easily to stills as to film, according to Allen. “Dance is so much about movement, gestures and the positioning of the body,” explains the photographer, who worked with stylist and fellow Streeters colleague Heathermary Jackson on the project. “Still images give you time to appreciate the intricacy of what dancers do.”

The Block Magazine issue 26: Marriage Equality hits newsstands on April 27.