INTERVIEW with Dominique Densmore, Artist and Illustrator, October 2024

Artist and illustrator Dominique Densmore chats with Georgina Butler about dance, art and her new painting series.

Artist and illustrator Dominique Densmore grew up dancing and drawing and can’t imagine her life without them. Everyone has some pursuit or perspective that they choose to engage with, develop skill in and derive satisfaction from. Individuals are unlikely to perceive what they do and how they do it as a gift. Nonetheless, their enthusiasm and expertise will interest and inspire other people.

My propensity for writing and dancing – not to mention writing about dancing – is encapsulated in the notion of the ‘adventures of a dance writer’. All my experiences and opportunities in editorial and educational environments are underpinned by the focus, freedom and feeling gifted to me by words and movement. Being a writer who writes about dance is niche, but being curious about things, and often compelled to convey new information to readers or learners, is not. It is unsurprising, then, that I am always intrigued by the creative pursuits of others.

When I met Dominique at the barre in a London dance studio, and we got chatting after class, an interview to coincide with World Ballet Day celebrations seemed inevitable. Unfortunately, the host companies (the Australian Ballet, the Royal Ballet and San Francisco Ballet) have decided to pause World Ballet Day this year. The good news is that they are promising that the event will return in 2025 with a refreshed and dynamic approach.

In the meantime, Dominique’s gift as an artist is simply too good not to share! I caught up with Dominique to learn more about her experiences as a dancer and artist. It was wonderful to chat – and I was treated to a private viewing of her stunning new painting series, Gifts of Virtue.

Dominique Densmore

Dominique Densmore was born in Germany and grew up in the United States in a family of artists and musicians. She started dancing as a six-year-old at a ballet school in Grosse Pointe, a suburb of Detroit, and has always been inspired by films, music and storytelling. Her dancing highlights include performing classical repertoire roles alongside her younger sister and performing in the London 2012 Olympic Games closing ceremony alongside Darcey Bussell. Her varied accomplishments as an artist include designing greeting cards for London businesses, being crowned champion at live speed-painting tournament Art Battle London and competing as a ‘wildcard’ artist in the Sky Arts series Landscape Artist of the Year.

Dominique’s new ballet-themed painting series, Gifts of Virtue, draws on her own experiences in dance and takes inspiration from Tchaikovsky’s The Sleeping Beauty. The series comprises six individual paintings, each of which depicts one of the fairies who attend baby Aurora’s christening to bless her with their gifts. This is the first time Dominique has created a collection of paintings that stand alone as individual pieces and also work together as one picture.

We met at a ballet class in London, so the obvious place to start is: when did you first discover ballet and start dancing?

“My earliest memory of being exposed to ballet as an art form was through film. My father showed me an old, filmed performance of Giselle and explained to me what was going on. After that, I kept bugging him to take me to ballet school!

I danced from the age of six and my younger sister followed suit. Ballet was pretty much our focus for most of our lives – we did exams and bi-annual shows. But we were always drawing and painting too. It was our way of having fun. I can’t imagine my life without it.”

And what brought you to London?

“I came to London more than ten years ago. Mainly because I always wanted to explore Europe. My mother is English and my father spent a lot of time here in his youth. He told me many stories of his adventures here, and in Spain and Germany, so I wanted to come and see it all too.

Some of my most memorable opportunities here have been through ballet. Dancing in the Olympics closing ceremony in 2012, of course. And I performed a solo at Westminster Cathedral for the wedding of two friends. I danced the Prayer variation from Coppélia, a solo that my teacher had once performed and which was the only solo I did for which she gave me a compliment. She was tough, my teacher, so when she gave compliments it was like receiving a gold medal.”

Your father is an orchestral musician, your mum and sister are both artists, your brother is a guitarist. This must have fuelled your interest in dance and art! Are there any specific dancers who have particularly inspired you?

“My father was always playing classical music in the house and music has always been what makes me want to dance.

There was no resident ballet company in Detroit and our theatre visits were rare. So, growing up, many of my ballet heroes were from the films we watched. Nureyev was my favourite; my sister and I adored his Don Quixote film. Besides his dancing, I loved that he was such a great storyteller. I also revered Moira Shearer for her impeccable precision and pirouettes. At one time, I attempted to learn her entire doll dance from The Tales of Hoffmann – challenging to say the least!

Later, I did also learn from watching recent dancers, including Darcey Bussell. I remember learning a Gamzatti solo from a video of hers. My English grandfather sent me and my sister a copy of her book, The Young Dancer, when we were children. I never dreamed that years later I would share the same stage with her at the Olympics.”

Moira Shearer was a favourite of mine too – I was always captivated by the drama and dancing in The Red Shoes. The first ballet I saw live as a child was The Sleeping Beauty. What was the first ballet you saw live?

“I believe the first live ballet I saw was The Nutcracker, at the Detroit Opera House. I always wanted to be Clara! Although that didn’t happen, I did dance Sugar Plum for a school recital.”

You describe yourself as a largely self-taught artist, although you had painting and drawing sessions with professional painter Dennis Orlowski when you were a teenager. Where does your inspiration usually come from?

“Dennis is resident professional artist of Detroit! He introduced me to oils, which is now one of my favourite mediums.

My inspiration usually comes from stories. And things I like: horses, nature, architecture, music and yes, dance. But especially stories, or scenes in life that suggest a story. Even if I’m just making up a scene, I like to imagine a narrative to go with it. That was what always appealed to me about ballet – the idea of conveying a story through movement.

As for techniques, I have picked things up from many artists, especially illustrators. Henry Justice Ford had a big influence on me. Howard Pyle helped with his quotes on lighting. And from Dennis: ‘go for the eyes!’. I hadn’t given eyes much importance until he said that.”

The Gifts of Virtue series illustrates your eye for detail and incredible talent at rendering ballerinas on canvas. Who would be your dream dancer to paint?

“In all honesty, I would have a hard time choosing one specific dancer.

Perhaps a particular ballet, preferably with sumptuous designs and a dramatic story. Perhaps Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet, or Khachaturian’s Gayane. I’ve never seen Gayane, but I recently discovered the music and it simply swept me away!”

In The Sleeping Beauty, the fairies bless baby Aurora with their unique gifts – meaningful qualities that will be advantageous to the princess. Those who dance, teach or watch ballet do so because it means something to them. What is the greatest gift you have been blessed with from ballet?

“Personally, on a practical level, ballet has gifted me with strength and flexibility, which has probably aided me in being less injury-prone. I was rather stiff-limbed as a child and had to work hard to improve my flexibility. And, through that struggle, it also taught me perseverance in overcoming obstacles. And it’s a much more enjoyable way of working out than going to the gym!

As an artist, it has given me a particular ability to capture movement, and an instinct for how to use the depiction of movement in a narrative way.”

The Gifts of Virtue paintings

The Gifts of Virtue series comprises six paintings: Grace, Joy, Generosity, Song, Courage and Wisdom. In total, this collection of acrylic-on-canvas creations took Dominique approximately 149 hours to complete and the attention to detail is exquisite. Balletomanes will instantly recognise the fairy solos from The Sleeping Beauty thanks to the distinctive poses Dominique has chosen to portray in each painting. Ballet fanatics aside, the gloriously luminescent fairy-tale characters and palatial, theatrical background are guaranteed to cast a spell on anyone and everyone.

What inspired you to paint the Gifts of Virtue series? It seems like quite an undertaking to have six paintings that work as stand-alone pieces and together as one scene!

“It occurred to me a little while ago that I didn’t have any dance-themed works, so I decided to paint this series as a memento of one of the shows I took part in: a performance of excerpts from The Sleeping Beauty. It was a performance I felt particularly proud of, and enjoyed for the camaraderie of the girls I danced with. Also, I simply thought it would be a lot of fun, playing with the different colours and attributes of the various characters.

There was a lot of work involved along with the fun! The process involved working on the background first, in deep brown. I worked on two panels together at a time, measuring the details in each so that they all matched up. During this time I left the dancers in blank white silhouette. I left the white underneath to give more luminosity to their colours later.”

The names of the fairies in the ballet vary from production to production, as do the specific details of the gifts they bestow, but they are always relatable to the stylised variations that the dancers perform. Indeed, knowing what the fairies represent helps audience members to better understand the choreography. What can you reveal about your approach to depicting the fairies?

“My intent was to depict them as personifications of the virtues or gifts they represent, rather than simply as fairies. Yet, at the same time, I wanted to add hints of Tchaikovsky’s original intentions. So, I researched the reasons for the names he gave each one and alluded to these in the background.

Grace is known as Fairy of the Crystal Fountain, so I put fountains behind her and her tutu is covered in clear gems that look like drops of water. I liked to think of how good and gracious words can be refreshing, like water from a fountain on a hot day.

Joy is known as Fairy of the Enchanted Garden or Fairy of Wheat Flour. I initially found the reference to wheat odd. But it seems that in Tchaikovsky’s time wheat was often used in cosmetics and therefore associated with beauty. I focused on the garden here, with allusions to wheat in the embroidery of her tutu.

Generosity is known as Fairy of the Woodland Glade or Breadcrumb Fairy. I went with a peasant style for her costume, as her names put me in thought of a cottage in the countryside.

Song is known as Fairy of Songbirds or Canari. Hers was an easy costume choice: of course, she had to have the feathers of a canary. I did a few studies of canary birds and I also looked up videos of piccolo players, to be sure she was holding the instrument correctly. As the daughter of a musician – and of a flute player, no less – I knew if I was adding an instrument I needed to get it right!

Courage is known as Fairy of the Golden Vine or Violente. I have put her in an armoured, vine-covered bodice as a feminine warrior, to show that she is brave. She holds a mini crossbow.

Wisdom is most famously known as the Lilac Fairy. I read that in Russian folklore, lilac is associated with wisdom. So, I embellished her costume with pearls, in reference to the phrase “pearls of wisdom”. I also put a staircase behind her, leading up to a gate, as a suggestion of steps leading to heaven. This is a reference to the biblical depiction of wisdom as a woman who calls out from the height of the city for the simple to enter her house.”

Everything about these paintings is beautiful, thank you so much for sharing them with me Dominique. There is no time like the present to think ahead to Christmas, birthdays and ‘just because’ gifting opportunities. How can people get their hands on their favourite fairy – or collect the entire series?

“The paintings in the Gifts of Virtue series are available to order as prints and will also soon be available to order as tote bags. People can visit my website, Studio Densmore, to order.”