This site has limited support for your browser. We recommend switching to Edge, Chrome, Safari, or Firefox.

Behind the Lens

Many will know Ethan Watts as a dancer with the National Ballet of Canada, but few may know he is a keen photographer. Watts joined us on the set of our upcoming video for Fjord Review #2 at the invitation of Karolina Kuras, to capture the action and ambience of the shoot. Watts photographs exclusively with film. His pictures show not only a trained dancer's eye, but a clear instinct for catching the moment.

Ethan Watts. Photograph by Karolina Kuras for Skylar Campbell Dance Collective

Watts, born and raised in San Francisco, trained at the San Francisco Ballet School and at the Academy of Ballet, California. He joined the National Ballet of Canada in 2013 and notably cavaliered his partner Hannah Fischer to success at the 2015 International Competition for the Erik Bruhn Prize. What follows are excerpts from our brief back-and-forth on Instagram, where I asked Watts about his foray into photography.

FR: How did you become interested in photography, and using film in particular?

EW: My dad used to take pictures on his film camera when I was a kid, and I don't know, I actually thought it was annoying because he would make me stop all the time and take a picture. I don't know how I started, I just tried it and loved it, honestly. I love taking pictures and I love the uncertainty of film.

I love taking pictures and I love the uncertainty of film

Ethan Watts

FR: How would you describe your approach to photography?

EW: My approach is to try to cater to whatever I'm photographing—to try and get to know whatever or whoever—and just be aware of how the person or thing or place feels. But I love photographing people, because people are just the best.

FR: What about cats and dogs?

EW: O fu*k, how could I forget. I love my babies, George and Penelope, and I really believe there are no bad pictures of them, their beautiful spirits always shine through my sometimes subpar skill level.

Ethan Watts' photography will appear in Fjord Review #2. [For pictures of George and Penelope, see Watts' Instagram.]

Penelope Ford

Penelope is the founding editor of Fjord Review, international magazine of dance and ballet. Penelope graduated from Law and Arts with majors in philosophy and languages from the University of Melbourne, Australia, before turning to the world of dance. She lives in Italy.

subscribe to the latest in dance

“Uncommonly intelligent, substantial coverage.”

Your weekly source for world-class dance reviews, interviews, articles, and more.

Already a paid subscriber? Login

comments

This site is protected by hCaptcha and the hCaptcha Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Please note, comments must be approved before they are published

Featured

Flight or Fight
REVIEWS | Karen Greenspan

Flight or Fight

How do we navigate a balance between the collective and the individual? How do we negotiate strength and flexibility? How do we value tradition while embracing innovation?

Continue Reading
String Theory
REVIEWS | Kris Kosaka

String Theory

Particles or string? Dark matter or light? The National Ballet of Japan offers up a contemporary double-bill of dance, loosely connected by visual metaphors to modern physics.

Continue Reading
Trio A at Sixty
REVIEWS | Anna Eastman

Trio A at Sixty

When Yvonne Rainer choreographed “Trio A” on herself in 1965, it took six months to work out the four-and-half-minute solo. But for many early audience members, its effect was immediate and electric.

Continue Reading
Good Subscription Agency