When it comes to dancewear, BLOCH has long been a brand dancers trust—but you've probably never seen them quite like this before. For their new back-to-school campaign, debuting exclusively here on Dance Spirit, the brand teamed up with photographer Jordan Matter, known for his adventurous, playful shoots that push dancers out of their comfort zones.
They knew he'd be able to capture the energy, fun, and excitement of back-to-school season. It was also a dream collaboration for Matter. "I travel to London a lot, and I've used the outside of their store as a location because all the designs are so beautiful," he says. "Even before I ever worked with them I was starting to utilize their products in my photos. And I know they have a great reputation."
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For the shoot, Matter and a team of eight young dancers spent a day frolicking all over New York City in the latest BLOCH dancewear, striking poses in locations like Central Park, Times Square, and Lincoln Center, plus BLOCH's flagship store. It was pouring rain for much of the day, and the results are gorgeous: Think dancers in romantic, flowy ballet skirts facing each other on pointe in a subway station, or joyfully leaping over puddles in eye-catching leos and flouncy barre skirts, or parading across the street in colorful warm-up booties with the bright lights of Times Square winking in the background.
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The clothes look great on camera, and the dancers wearing them look like they're ready to take on anything—and have fun while doing it. "The color really pops, the design is unique, they are creative and visually interesting to look at, and they move well on the dancers' bodies," says Matter.
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Matter's spontaneous style fully aligned with the campaign's theme: Dance With Confidence. "In order to go along with this process there needs to be a lot of confidence from the dancers," he says. "They're going to be engaging with traffic or weather or passersby. It's kind of like, 'dance like nobody's watching,' but everybody's watching."
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The shots Matter goes for are unconventional and challenging, asking for a certain boldness and a willingness to take risks. "I would say things like, 'Climb up to the top of that statue,' or 'Run into the middle of the street,' or 'Jump in a fountain,' " he says. Shots like this had to be timed perfectly, with only a few seconds to hit a pose before running out of the way of oncoming traffic, for instance. That meant putting perfectionism aside and just going for it.
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Just going for it is something BLOCH themselves did as well. "They gave me complete freedom to be creative," Matter said. "I think they had a lot of confidence in their own brand—they're living their own slogan." Based on the results, we're ready for some of that confidence to rub off on us.
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Check out our favorite items from BLOCH's back-to-school line below, and to see the rest of the campaign, follow BLOCH on Instagram.
Ebo Leotard
Ladies Contoursoft Footed Tights
Elegance Pointe Shoes
Hava Leotard
Balance European Pointe Shoes
Nejor Leotard
Barre Skirt
Parem Leotard
Performa Ballet Shoes
