Dancing Across the world - Ryan Peters

This bronze statue from ancient India portrays the Hindu god Shiva in mid dance. The statue has one leg bent in front of the other along with arms held in various positions, obviously demonstrating the moment of this dancing god. Overall the piece is well balanced, with arms outstretched rather equally and legs centered with the torso.

This European painting by a French painter in the seventeenth century portrays a shadowy meadow with a flute player along with a nymph and satyr dancing. The background of the painting is much brighter in contrast to the meadow in the foreground. The sunlight upon the dancers in the meadow helps to emphasize them against their darker surroundings.

This Japanese painting from the seventeenth century is one of a set of six paintings of a woman dancing with a fan. She is centered in the painting with a beige background clearly emphasizing her as the pieces subject. She appears slightly bent over sand in the process of swinging her fan out to the side, clearly demonstrating her movement.

This Spanish oil on canvas painting depicts a woman dancing while she plays castanets. The artist uses space clearly to show the dancer is on the near bank of a river while far in the distance is an old city. By making the dancer large and in the foreground and the city small and in the background, a three-dimensional feel is created.

This very old photograph depicts an English woman dressed as an Egyptian dancer. The model had to remain still for the photo to not be blurry, so the theme of dance is shown through her attire as well as the musical objects surrounding her. The image is very well balanced, neither side having more visual content.

This piece is a pastel over monotype on cream laid paper created in France. The brightness of the ballerina's attire draws attention to them as the focus of the artwork while the background and foreground are in darker colors adding a border to the dancers. The haze of the medium used seems to give a greater sense of movement from the stationary figures portrayed.

This life-sized bronze statue from the early twentieth century shows a nude woman in the middle of a dance move. The positioning of her arms, shoulders, hips, and feet indicate that she is about to perform a spinning or twirling motion. The figure gives the illusion of momentum while remaining stationary.

This photograph of a Canadian dancer is rather old being from the first half of the twentieth century. The dancer stands on the tips of her toes with a parasol and her hand out in a gesture. This, along with her facial expression, gives her the appearance of stopping mid dance, almost as if she had been interrupted by the photographer.

This oil on canvas painting from the second half of the twentieth century shows two main pairs of dancers. You can tell the dancing is in competition by the numbers printed on the male figures of the painting. The dancers are all long and thin, with what seems to be an emphasis on the long legs of the dancers.

This rather recent sand sculpture portrays a Southeast Asian court dance being offered to a king. This beautiful piece displays these dancers in great detail, demonstrating their movement through they outstretched arms and various positions in relation to one another. The flamboyant attire also helps to set these figures apart as dancers.