Olga Rabetskaya
Belarus
Olga Rabetskaya
Image description: A medium headshot of Olga. She is looking over her shoulder at the camera, and her long sandy blond hair is down around her shoulders and face. She has blue eyes and is wearing a dark blue shirt. The interior background is also blue and blurred.
Olga Rabetskaya
Olga Rabetskaya (she/her) is U.S. based artist originally from Belarus. She is a director, photographer, and choreographer whose work spans film, choreography and photography, multimedia production. Olga’s artistic research and exploration focus on the deep knowledge of the body and how to share our emotional experience, memories, and body intelligence through movement. She was a soloist in the Contemporary dance troupe of the State Youth Theatre of Belarus from 2014 to 2019. Her dance works and dance films have been presented at international festivals in the United States, Poland, Belgium, United Kingdom, Portugal, China, Brazil, Bolivia, and Belarus. She has held three personal photo exhibitions in Belarus between 2016 and 2019 and has been awarded residencies at the School of Visual Arts (2021) and Gallim Moving Women+ (2021), and Residence for Young Choreographers in Moscow (2018).
Photography always comes along with choreography for me. They are both part of my artistic exploration and research. Diving into the pool of movement and visuals and intertwinement of all these aspects is what fascinates me the most.
Artist Statement
Photography always comes along with choreography for me. They are both part of my artistic exploration and research. Diving into the pool of movement and visuals and intertwinement of all these aspects is what fascinates me the most.
I walked into the church with Sierra, the first dancer I agreed to photograph after arriving in New York City from Eastern Europe, prepared with lights, clothes, and a plan of action in hand. The moment we walked in, it was pitch black, and the batteries to my external flash leaked. I panicked. Anxiously scanning the room, I noticed a small sliver of sun creeping in the corner slowly making its way up the wall. I quickly reacted, and asked Sierra to mimic the movements of the light beam - ignoring the grandeur of the church, rather exploring the intimate, dark corners of the room. Instead of giving her directions, I simply instigated the environment with the tools I had in hand - waving manila folders and cellophane in the air to create texture and rhythm. Sierra kept reacting to my movements and we naturally slipped into a non-verbal trance. She moved, I clicked - she moved, I clicked.
I learned that day - no matter how much preparation goes into a photoshoot, success comes when I react in real-time. I learned to rely not only on my anatomical knowledge of the body as a choreographer, but also on my ability to interpret the body beyond cognition. I am not a photographer that will shoot when the body is tense or artificially posed. I am a visual artist and choreographer that strives to bring out the artistry and inner strength of my dancers. I mould the body to produce unconventional, yet familiar, shapes and angles. I build relationships, and inspire people to move in ways they never expected. I photograph, to simply capture the moment.
