mickael jou's gravity-defying dance series captures ballet mid-move

mickael jou’s gravity-defying dance series captures ballet mid-move
all images courtesy of mickael jou

mickael jou has embarked on a year-long project which unites his two creative careers — photography and dance. the french-american artist has comprised his ‘365 self-portrait project’ using everyday scenes for the composition’s backdrop — a supermarket, park and museum hallways. caught mid-move, jou acts as the focal point of each scenario, sometimes suspended weightlessly in flight, other times dramatically interacting with the surrounding environment. what looks to be the work of wires, tethering him to some invisible support system, is instead the adept manipulation of his own body, with which he has skillfully and carefully controlled. with perfectly-pointed toes and elegantly-outstretched arms, the series takes a rare look at the graceful steps and paces frozen in a frame. 

the photographer / dancer hovers in front of a stunned room of museum-goers

jou’s dance position interacts with a nearby statue

the dancer holds onto the bars of a fence and drifts his legs into the air

jou caught mid-move sees him seemingly floating above the city street