Natural Dance is an exceptionally high quality fine art dance photography book. It includes 65 photos of women dancers freely expressing intuitive movement in natural settings, unbounded by choreographic constraints. They are accompanied by nature images showing the synchronicity of dance and nature, as well as quotes from famous historical dancers. The book is of unusually high quality, using a stochastic printing process of 10 microns on 115# Utopia Premium Silk text paper. It has been favorably reviewed by leading dance critic Janice Ross, recognized photographers Sam Abell and Ruth Bernhard, and legendary dancers Lori Belilove and Anna Halprin.
“Hal Eastman’s vision stimulated my desire to go even deeper into my own understanding of dance in nature. To know that what he was seeking was so close to the root of what Isadora Duncan’s dance is all about…and to be able to help him explore this was one of the most invigorating experiences of my career.”
—Lori Belilove, Artistic Director, Isadora Duncan Dance Foundation, and Natural Dance dancer
“I believe anyone who loves women, and who loves nature will love Hal Eastman’s dance photographs. They are presented with great respect, sensitivity, unique imagination, and stunning craftsmanship.”
—Anna Halprin, dancer, author, and teacher
“Hal Eastman’s ethereal images in Natural Dance capture the very essence of the relationship between dance and nature, and the intuitive in dance.”
—Ruth Bernhard, photographer
“These images come to my mind unbidden; the beautiful flowing tone of them, the high and consistent tone of them.”
—Sam Abell, National Geographic photographer, teacher, and author
“Truly extroardinary, celebratory work—nature in flight.”
—Margie Gillis, Margie Gillis Dance Foundation
“Stunning photographs of formally trained dancers, dancing free form in natural settings. Superbly designed and printed, it is in the top three of the perhaps thousands of books of photography I’ve seen.”
—Roderick MacIver, Heron Dance
“A woman letting go—what an unusual concept in many present-day cultures! Leaving the world of precision and technique behind, whether due to wild abandon or simply uneven ground beneath her feet, the result is exciting, wild.”
—Juliet Kerr, National Dance Institute New Mexico, Santa Fe Artistic Director
“These images portray more than dance or nature. The photographer has captured the essence of an energetic exchange between the dancer and the landscape, created by her complete presence and unconscious moment of being.”
—KT Nelson, Co-Artistic Director, ODC Dance, and Natural Dance dancer