Odette

The legend of Rapunzel, the mystery of Snow White, the tragedy of Cinderella or the transformation of the good Odette into the wicked Odile in Swan Lake, are all inspirations for creative narratives. The classic stories never lose their appeal as has been shown in the recent Wuthering Heights movie, where as a result the original book is itself back as a number one best seller over one hundred and fifty years after it was written.

In these images beauty is created through the makeup, the hair, and the styling in close up. By enfolding the head in waves of hair or the fragile frosting of lace or the textured ribs of a knit, all in pale tones, we see our princess in her tower gazing out at us.

The arch of her brows, the snowflake like eyelashes, the shimmer of her pale lips speak to us of a romance and a story we know, as if it is sweeping through centuries of such stories. Of beauty frozen and awaiting release, of a heart full, yet denied love, of a desire to move into freedom and society yet in its very isolation knowing their own worth.

The power of fragile beauty within storytelling is so strong that fairytale princesses, isolated heroines and even the members of a family who are destined to leave the narrative, such as Beth in Little Women, carry their power in becoming everlasting symbols of beauty, loveliness, and fragility. Giselle and her life after death or The Sleeping Beauty and her awakening after one hundred years in classical ballets never lose their magic and their extraordinary ability to move us.

So, as we gaze on these images created by Laura and Annabel, we are reflecting both on fashion and legend, on the splendour of the ballet Lac des Cygnes, Swan Lake, and its iconic White Act. On the flourish of the tutu, the airy lightness of tulle and the Romantic era ballet skirt, on the frozen lake and the plumes shaking droplets of water away, and the princess encircled by her swans.

 It is a beauty that can be timeless, yet modern, which can inspire in so many ways, and which enchants the viewer just as much as Von Rothbart enchants Odette.

Words by Tony Glenville