I met Blakeley 10 years ago at Jacob’s Pillow; she was dancing the “Chosen One” in Martha Graham’s Rite of Spring, and I was taking my first dance photography workshop.
Since then, I have photographed her numerous times; in the theater, the Graham Studio, in natural light and in my studio. She is an amazing, sensitive, confident, and versatile artist, and I feel very fortunate to have her as a friend and artistic collaborator.
Blakeley grew up in Baton Rouge Louisiana and she told me that growing up she was always dancing – everywhere from her back garden, along the Mississippi river, in community dance programs, seasonal outdoor festivals and Mardi Gras balls. She had a mixture of dance training, including ballet, jazz and tap. It was core to her happiness and the rhythm of her life.
Her world and that life trajectory changed dramatically in 1993 when she came to New York to take a summer dance program and decided to stay. She studied at the Martha Graham School and then danced with Richard Move and at the Metropolitan Opera before joining the Martha Graham company in 2002 – where she rose rapidly to become a principal dancer and a vital part of the company’s revitalization under Artistic Director Janet Eilber.
She danced with Graham until 2017 and since then has been choreographing (and dancing) her own work, teaching, and has written a book titled The Martha Graham Company: House of the Pelvic Truth. And for the past three years she has been collaborating with Daniel Fetecua Soto, which is where the Love Story of my portrait series begins.
I’m not sure exactly when Blakeley met Daniel, but in the summer of 2021, just as we are beginning to emerge from the pandemic, she contacted me in the Berkshires and introduced me to Daniel as her partner – creatively and personally.
Daniel Fetecua Soto also has had a fascinating and unconventional journey to becoming a leading dance artist in New York City. Born and raised in Bogota Columbia, he trained primarily in ballet before going to Essen in Germany for his BFA where he danced as guest artist in Pina Bausch’s Rite of Spring and Tannhauser before moving to New York where he danced with the Limon Dance Company as a soloist from 2006 to 2016.
Since then, he has founded and is the artistic director of two companies: Pajarillo Pinta’o which preserves and promotes traditional Columbian dance and D-Moves which focuses on contemporary dance projects that combine Columbian dance forms, modern dance and German TanzTheater.
It was these themes that were first and foremost in my mind in creating this portrait series of Blakeley and Daniel – but my primary intent (as always in my portrait work) was focused on emotion – to represent and reveal their joy and passion as a couple and individually.
I feel that they both shine brightly in this series of images, and I hope you feel the depth and beauty of their relationship as strongly as I do.
