Always have your camera at the ready –– you never know what fortuitous inspiration you’ll find. This photo, Bailamos, is a prime example.
A few years ago, my partner and I were visiting the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) for a special exhibition when we ran into a troupe of folkloric dancers performing traditional Mexican dances in the courtyard.
Among the group were these charming young women who happily gathered to pose for photos during a break.
Standing in front of LACMA’s iconic Urban Light sculpture in their colorful costumes and bright smiles, they projected a graceful exuberance I found captivating. How often do we experience such pure, unmitigated moments of joy?
They seemed to be saying, with pride and delight, to the audience and the world: “Bailamos. We dance. That’s who we are, what we do.” Hence the title I chose for the photo.
I hope they’ll always experience the joy of losing –- and finding –– oneself in art.
O body swayed to music, O brightening glance,
How can we know the dancer from the dance?
— W.B. Yeats, Among School Children
Copyright M. Vincent 2019
My Eclectic Cafe 
This is a great shot, the colors just pop off the page.
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Thank you, Robert. Nice to hear from you!
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A great pleasure to begin the day with a brilliant photograph and Yeats!
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Very cool! How fortuitous that there was that red curb line running across the bottom to frame your photo and also pick up the red hues in the dancers’ head and waist bands.
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Spoken like the keen artistic observer that you are. Thank you for commenting.
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Thanks for the kind words.
Your photo is very much in the tradition of Edgar Degas, a painter and photographer, just like you. Your “modern Degas” very much reminded me of his ballet studio paintings which, interestingly, often featured a thin horizontal red line running across the studio walls in the background. A very striking visual effect to unify a horizontal painting.
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Thank you for illuminating that detail. I’ll look at those Degas paintings again with new eyes.
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