The effortless grace of dancers offstage in Far East Russia | The Calvert Journal Shop

For the inaugural edition of The Calvert Journal Shop, we’ve collaborated with six artists to offer you exclusive prints, available for purchase for four months only. You can browse the shop here.

The image above was taken by Elena Anosova, a visual artist producing documentary and art photography, video, archive, and installations. Originally hailing from the Russian region of Baikal in Siberia, she is currently based in Irkutsk, Moscow, and Kaliningrad. Read her story behind the print.

The photo was taken in 2015 in Emerald Park, an open-air leisure and recreation attraction five kilometres away from Ussiriysk in Russia’s Far East. There, I got to see a magnetic traditional performance by a Russian-Korean dance ensemble called “Koryo” which included women of different ages: I was especially delighted by the elderly members of the group. Afterwards, I asked their permission to photograph them as they crossed the park back to the parking lot. It’s important for me to spend time with the protagonists of my photos: so after the festival I joined a couple of the dancers for lunch at a Korean restaurant, to chat and find out more about them.

This was my first trip to the Far East, made possible thanks to an art residence organised by The Zarya Center for Contemporary Art in Vladivostok. I felt so warmly received both in the region and in Ussurisk. The visit inspired my series Polite Fish, devoted to the multiculturalism of Primorsky Krai, the southernmost region of Russia. What you don’t get to see in this image is the beautiful surroundings of Emerald Park, and all the relatives and spectators who gathered just for this one performance.

The print Koryo, Ussuriysk, “Izumrudnaya Dolina” is available for purchase in two sizes here. Read our past interview with Elena Anosova on Polite Fish.