Hi! Well, have been reading your discussion here and to be more diplomatic some of you have right and some of you have wrong!!
As a photographer, dance photo 25 years, at first that its not artistic pictures and its not porno. Its wrong to say that anyone should be ashame of this thread.
This photos is ok to show flexability in a dancer body. Nothing wrong with that. The purpose is ok.
However the site who have this photos have a light erotic touch. The purpose of the pictures they make is to be light erotic. Nothing wrong with that.
The photos is maybe not so tasteful but i like to see a well trained body wiht flexible muscles. Great!!!

What, only because half the world brags around and shows off their bodies like meat, I should go about and accept it?

No, just saying that your opinion isn't the morally correct one for society in general. You are entitled to feel however you like and you have the option to not look at something if it makes you uncomfortable, but these pictures DO NOT violate our terms of service nor are they offensive to many people. I support your right to say it does, but I think there are so many other things to get offended about. Since they do not violate the terms of service...they won't be removed. So once again, stop mod reporting them because they aren't breaking any rules here.

To me, it's not about how much skin she shows. It's about the way she looks into the camera.

I'm sorry, but she's obviously offering herself as meat, and I don't like women doing that.

Apparently it isn't so obvious to some of us that she is offering herself up as meat. I must attend the Legwarmer school of photography soon so you can explain "THE OBVIOUS" to me since I am "obviously" too stupid to see it. I want to join you in not liking women for choosing to be a model and doing a regular photo shoot just for a day to see how repressed people get through the day. I feel so stupid...but I have looked at them all again and I still don't seen pornography, and neither do other people. How odd that a whole section of ddn members just don't get it huh?

Some of you really lead a sheltered life if you think this is porn. I would hate to see your shock and horror when confronted with real porn or in my opinion many human rights violations that occur around the world that are far more offensive than a high cut leotard.

Well..pointe shoes are sexy for many women.Maybe that`s why are used for..several reasons.ANyway,I don`t see nothing wrong with these photos.
I don`t think at ballerinas when i look at these girls but..I don`t feel offended or something like that.

For the record: I have nothing against flexible ballerinas, but I think that it can be portrayed in a way that is a little more artistic, more ballet-like, such as in the following pics:



Diana Vishneva:


Random dancers:






(Taken by Lois Greenfield)




(Taken by Daria Klimentova)








(Gelsey Kirkland)


(Taken by Gene Schiavone)



So yeah... and of course ballet can be sexy and sensual...


(Drew Jacoby)

I suppose it all comes down to a question of taste and frankly, the initial photos posted are not what I find tasteful at all... call me a prude who can't stand naked bodies and female empowerment or whatever... I love artistic nudes done in a ballet style (e.g. this one here: i261.photobucket.com . . . or i261.photobucket.com . . . or img.photobucket.com . . .), but "Hey, check out my waxed vagina covered by a piece of cloth"? Well, to each his own, I suppose...

Love
Tomato La Prude

You guys don't know when those first 2 pictures were taken, you don't know who that girl is. She might be a really talented dancer and that was just the style of the leotard at the time. The photographer must also have been pretty proud of those images to put them on the internet, as a photographer myself with a DeviantArt page with my photos on it I understand how nervewracking it is to put your images out for the world to see. I would be so insulted if I took what I thought were beautiful pictures of a local dancer and people started calling them porn.

I think the third picture is lovely. I do think the leotard on the lift picture is a bit tiny but any leotard is going to be a bit stretched when you have your leg behind your head and as for the picture in front of the car, I think that woman is beautiful and while we think of her as a harlet for wearing a skimpy dress maybe it's her way of showing how proud she is of her body? As for the obviously looking at the camera like meat thing, I don't even understand that. I think she looks intense, like don't mess with this. I also think her legs and feet are beautiful. I wish my legs looked like that.

You don't have to agree with me but I think it's unfair to take a picture that you personally consider untasteful and label it porn.

I was very sad to have caused this terible impression to all.

When I made post I did not get intention to offend nobody it. It forgives me...

Excuseme

Pictures of very flexible girls you can see:baletky.webgarden.cz . . .

imadanseur, you are SO fabulous for becoming aggressive on ME. What's wrong with some of you on DDN? What, if you don't like somebody's opinion, you go about calling names?
There's no "Legwarmer school", and quite frankly speaking:

I was NOT the one to mod-report these pictures.

I am NOT the only one who disliked these pictures. Stop acting as though I am the trouble maker!

Why single ME out?
Yeah, right. I'm probably the boo-hoo bad girl again. But you know what? You most definitely can't get me silent. Nuh-uh. You'd have to ban me.
I thought better of you, you're a mod. Apparently, that doesn't make any difference.

*

^ That poor photographer! As though he didn't know what he was doing!

If you go to cl-studio.com , where the pictures 1, 2 and 4 were taken from (as watermarks show), you'll see that these pictures were definitely meant to be erotic (and not slightly). They do show nice flexibility, can't argue with that, but I'm with Tutuless :

it can be portrayed in a way that is a little more artistic, more ballet-like

^Okay, now I am officially disgusted.

I agree, the pics are meaty.

Nothing wrong with meaty pics, but I do see a very strong difference between artistic, balletic pics and erotic pics.

It's not about being prude either. Offensive or not offensive, tasteful or not tasteful, these were meant to be erotic. Maybe there's a chunk of DDNers that don't see it that way, but I'd say there's another chunk of DDNers that do.

As for Legwarmer, if I'm allowed to have a say, I wish more people had her appreciation of the beautiful art that ballet is, specially during a time when pointe shoes are the "in" thing and the most superficial aspects of ballet (that coincidentially happen not to be what ballet is about) are popularized at the expense of the really important side of it. You know, expression.

This is all just personal opinion, of course.

imadanseur, you are SO fabulous for becoming aggressive on ME. What's wrong with some of you on DDN? What, if you don't like somebody's opinion, you go about calling names?

When have I become aggressive on you? Ever think maybe you are being overly sensitive. I didn't call you any names or anything like that. I never insinuated you mod reported them either. This is merely a discussion and nothing more and certainly nothing personal. What does being a mod have to do with having a personal opinion as a member? I did NOT call you out I addressed something you wrote and I did not break any posting guidelines or TOS.

I specifically addressed you because I didn't think your post was expressing a personal opinion. I felt it was telling the rest of us exactly how stupid we were for not seeing what was so clear to you. It didn't reflect a personal opinion it implied that your way of thinking was the only one and any other opinion didn't matter because the pictures were pornographic.

For the record they aren't pornographic and involve no nudity. You can think they are tasteless or whatever, but I really don't think the original poster needed to be beat up for posting them.

There is no need to make the orginal poster feel like crap because of a difference of opinions, she shouldn't have to apologize as if she's done something wrong. Even if these girls are not dancing now, it's clear that they have had some type of training in dance or gymnastics at some point in their lives. The point of thread was supposed to flexibility and some how it turned into a bashing session. I am really not that offended by any of the pictures. Could they have been more tasteful, well maybe but if we are talking flexibility then these girls have it. Everybody just lighten up a little.

Wow, it seems that this particular board has become famous at creating controversy, perhaps it needs to be renamed the 'ballet photos misc debate' board

But really, when I first saw the first few photos I thought, 'ohhhhh, some very talented gymnasts doing VERY well in pointe shoes, wow!' (and don't 'we' all jump on them if they can't wear pointe shoes correctly, eh?! )

To me, it's the interpretation of the photo from the individual which is the key. Some may see them as offensive, some may see them as beautiful, this is one of the amazing parts of the human mind-personal thought and interpretation. Don't we always say:

'Beauty is in the eye of the beholder'??

A photograph of a child to most may be seen as 'sweet' or 'cute', to a pedophile, it may be 'sexy' or 'hot'. Now perhaps this is a bad example, but what I'm trying to show is that perahaps a little chillaxing is required. These photos are most definitly NOT porn (perhaps they are when viewed by certain people, in a certian context like the website from which they originate), if they were unsavory, IN YOUR FACE porn, they would have gone by now. Maybe they arn't as classy or classical in the traditional sense as other photos are, like tutuless posted (which were beautiful by the way), but surely we can still admire their flexibility, which was the point of the post if you remember.

I feel sorry for the poster; guys, she's new and feels bad!! If that was me I think I'd leave and never come back! None of the photos offended me, if they offend you, don't look at them. They have been modded and are still here which means they are allowed to be on the website, so all it is now, is a matter of personal preferance.

As for the 'car' shot, not being funny, but I would say it's clear that she's a dancer of some sort- LOOK AT THOSE LEGS! Don't we always like to see photos of dancers in different environments and in everyday clothes?? Don't we like to think that a dancer is not only a dancer when she's in pointe shoes??

To the poster, welcome to DDN, sorry it's a bit delayed and you have probably had quite a bad first experience of the site but please don't give up on us just yet!! This really is a good place to be, and is such a helpful site. Bare with us, we're happy to have you!

Open your minds, nudity can be ponographic and/or beautiful, but so can most things; just think, if you had a foot fetish, the 'ballet photos-members' board would be VERY exciting- FOOT PORN EVERYWHERE!!

*sigh* it's so sad...

Sarah

We all grew up with the saying "If you don't have anything nice to say don't say anything at all." And I think this is a prime example. This is a new poster and I agree that bashing her for putting up pictures that you personally don't like is very rude and does not make DDN seem like a very nice place. Cut her some slack for being new and keep the negative comments to yourself. Also, if you just have to speak your mind then use some tact. "Ew, these pictures are gross and look like porn." is just a mean thing to say. If we could all demonstrait a be more of the culture that most seem to wish was in those pictures I'm sure you could have thought up some nicer ways to express your thoughts. Ex. "Well those girls are flexible but this photoboard usually likes posts that contain pictures that would be viewed as a bit more artistic. Just something to think about next time you post, welcome to DDN."

^ Okay yeah...
So I visited the website and it's definately not a site I would want my sister seeing...but still. There's oviously a language barrier with the OP..an dI'm sure she didn't mean any harm by it.

^Sure, let's make DDN a happy place far far away from reality because that's the only world we can deal with.

Grow up, it's not all sugar coated. How boring is this board when there's only "ooh she's so beautiful!" and "ah I want her legs".

I had a feeling that the pictures were from a less that favorable site, but I didn't mod it either. There really is no nudity.

I think this arguing is ridiculous, though. Of course I know that all women have boobs...I have them, too (barely )! I just didn't think that these pictures were appropriate. I definitely agree that there are much more tasteful ways of showing flexibility.

Sure, let's make DDN a happy place far far away from reality because that's the only world we can deal with.

Ohh Ohh, I know, we can all be pretentious elitist snobs and ruthlessly criticize everyone and everything! That's even more fun. Yay. You are right. Being tactful has nothing to do with reality. Heh.

Grow up, it's not all sugar coated. How boring is this board when there's only "ooh she's so beautiful!" and "ah I want her legs".

Wow - and you wonder why you are always in the center of controversy with comments like,'Grow up'? As for the rest, I'm not even going to go there - I think you know my opinion about what REAL constructive criticism is as opposed to petty banter which has little to do with dance.

It's funny - I didn't see the same outcry from the morality police when this thread came out last month. Ahhhh but some will say - this is ART. But according to whom? It's completely subjective. Do I 'like' the photos posted my OP? No, not really my style - not at all. But there is plenty of stuff on DDN that isn't my style. I don't have time to have a cow about it, though.

If you think these are pornographic, methinks you need to get out a bit more!

^Sure, let's make DDN a happy place far far away from reality because that's the only world we can deal with.

Grow up, it's not all sugar coated. How boring is this board when there's only "ooh she's so beautiful!" and "ah I want her legs".

Uh...
I think you need to grow up and realize that my post had absolutely nothing to do with making DDN a "happy place". How does this even pertain to my comment? Your comment is so irrelevent, I can't even begin!

^Sure, let's make DDN a happy place far far away from reality because that's the only world we can deal with.

Grow up, it's not all sugar coated. How boring is this board when there's only "ooh she's so beautiful!" and "ah I want her legs".

imadanseur, you are SO fabulous for becoming aggressive on ME. What's wrong with some of you on DDN? What, if you don't like somebody's opinion, you go about calling names?
There's no "Legwarmer school", and quite frankly speaking:

I was NOT the one to mod-report these pictures.

I am NOT the only one who disliked these pictures. Stop acting as though I am the trouble maker!

Why single ME out?
Yeah, right. I'm probably the boo-hoo bad girl again. But you know what? You most definitely can't get me silent. Nuh-uh. You'd have to ban me.
I thought better of you, you're a mod. Apparently, that doesn't make any difference.

You would be wise to take your own advice.

Personally, I did not think of these pictures as ballet at all. I considered them just contortionists wearing pointe shoes. That's not the OPs fault, it's just my opinion. I don't really think any of those girls are dancers with a ballet.

As for this whole controversy, it's kind of ridiculous, in my opinion. So much pretentiousness being thrown about.

i think it's very important that everyone is able to have their own opinion but not be criticized for it. i don't find anything offensive about these pictures and i think that everyone is taking it all a bit too seriously. no one is right or wrong here, we are allowed to be our own selves with our own thoughts and opinions and it is perfectly okay that they don't all agree with eachother. i think it is sad that these ballerinas are being so judged.. this is a free world where we all have the right to our feelings and thoughts. and we have the right to interpret ballet in different ways.. i don't think the member who posted these photos should be ashamed or apologetic at all. she only had good intentions, and she probably thought the pictures were a beautiful demonstration of flexibility. there is nothing wrong with that.. it may not be beautiful or balletic to some of you, but that doesn't mean your perspective is the ultimately true. the pictures mean different things to different people, and some people are impressed with them and what they show. i think it's sad to assume that the ballerinas are showing themselves off like meat and have too sexy looks on their faces.. i don't see that at all. to me, the first ballerina looks like a tough ballerina. i do wish they were all wearing tights, i think it would make the photos a bit more professional and lovely, but it is the way the photos are and i don't feel it is right to anyone to criticize them. i think it's important that we aren't harsh to eachother over something like this.. we are allowed to think the way we want, and we don't have to agree with eachother to be friendly and open to one another's views.

I'm not sure, are people under the age of 18 allowed to view this site? It appears to me that many younger teenagers are regularly accessing these ballet photo web pages. If so, in my opinion, pictures that clearly link back to erotic or porn sites should not be allowed. Certainly that is not the purpose or spirit of this site.