tonytesta.art

CRIT

Tony Testa American (b. 1987) CRIT 24"x36" Archival 60 lb polar matte print Los Angeles, CA 2018 $1,500.00 *100% of profits from this sale will be donated to Ukrainian relief. The anticipation is palpable when a great dancer prepares to begin. Not even they know what kind of kinetic energy will emerge. Surrendering the body for the sake of art, the dancer enters into a bitter-sweet contract each time they take the floor. High-level movers experience a god-like life-force that converges with their hard-earned technical training. But it often comes at the price of severe wear and tear on the body. The simple act of stretching thus becomes a crucial, sacred, but often overlooked ritual in a dancer's creative process. The subject of this photograph is 20-year-old Castle Rock, a Canadian-born dancer whose background in breakin', poppin', lockin', voguing, house dance, and freestyle has made him one of Los Angeles' most sought-after human fireworks. At the time this picture was taken, Castle and I were getting warmed up for a two-hour shoot near a grocery store loading dock in downtown LA. He had just put his bag down, I was still dialing in my camera settings. For a brief moment, a higher power seemed to enter the space, as his limbs, ring finger, hair, and head aligned in a divine symmetry with the skylight above. A reincarnation of Buster Keaton meets Boogaloo Shrimp, Castle is sci-fi stop-motion animation brought to life. His raw and reckless brand of dance has earned him the nickname "CRIT," short for “critically insane.”

Tony Testa
American (b. 1987)

CRIT
24"x36" Archival 60 lb polar matte print
Los Angeles, CA 2018
$1,500.00
*100% of profits from this sale will be donated to Ukrainian relief.

The anticipation is palpable when a great dancer prepares to begin. Not even they know what kind of kinetic energy will emerge. Surrendering the body for the sake of art, the dancer enters into a bitter-sweet contract each time they take the floor. High-level movers experience a god-like life-force that converges with their hard-earned technical training. But it often comes at the price of severe wear and tear on the body. The simple act of stretching thus becomes a crucial, sacred, but often overlooked ritual in a dancer's creative process.

The subject of this photograph is 20-year-old Castle Rock, a Canadian-born dancer whose background in breakin', poppin', lockin', voguing, house dance, and freestyle has made him one of Los Angeles' most sought-after human fireworks.

At the time this picture was taken, Castle and I were getting warmed up for a two-hour shoot near a grocery store loading dock in downtown LA. He had just put his bag down, I was still dialing in my camera settings. For a brief moment, a higher power seemed to enter the space, as his limbs, ring finger, hair, and head aligned in a divine symmetry with the skylight above.

A reincarnation of Buster Keaton meets Boogaloo Shrimp, Castle is sci-fi stop-motion animation brought to life. His raw and reckless brand of dance has earned him the nickname "CRIT," short for “critically insane.”