Demetia (De-Meet-Ah) Hopkins-Greene, 29, began her career at age 4, when she started training at her
uncle’s
studio in Virginia. Although she practiced jazz, ballet, hip-hop, tap,
and even Irish step, ultimately landing an eight-year tenure dancing
with the Alvin Ailey Dance Companies, she’d never dabbled in nude
dancing until she was approached by famed photographer Jordan Matter for
a book project known as Dancers After Dark.Here’s how the
self-proclaimed introvert found herself posing naked in the middle of
New York City’s Fifth Avenue.
You’ve never modeled naked before, so what made you agree to do it?
The
opportunity came to me around the same time I was considering leaving
Alvin Ailey to spend less time traveling, and Jordan Matter’s mission
statement really spoke to me: It said, “take the leap and the net will
appear.” I felt like taking this leap could help bring me a step towards
being a little braver and bolder in my career.
But
I was still unsure about posing naked — as an introvert, it's not in my
character and it's not something I ever thought I’d do — but I went out
with a group of Alvin Ailey dancers who'd agreed to pose for Jordan's
nude night series just to help hold the lights and supervise their form.
Throughout the night, I was so inspired by watching how brave everyone
was and how comfortable they were with their bodies that I decided to do
a pose. As dancers, we’re so hard on the way we look and constantly
critiquing ourselves. Dance is so personal, with your body being part of
the art. It was just so empowering to see all of these artists bare
themselves. My first shoot was in a quiet courtyard in Paris with
another dancer and a rose, which didn’t make it into Jordan’s book.Were
you really 100 percent naked?
I was totally naked, no nipple
covers or anything. I didn’t give Jordan any rules about what to
photograph, but he did give me the freedom to pick my pose, so I chose
to jump in a way that would cover me.
Logistically, how does a nude public photo shoot work?
I
go fully dressed wearing a long coat. Once we choose the location,
Jordan and his team sets up the lighting, we practice the pose, and
within 15 or 20 minutes, we’re ready to take the shot. For the New York
City photo you see in the book, we shot outside a hotel where the
doorman there let me get undressed right inside. I went out wearing
nothing but my winter coat and boots. When Jordan was ready, I stripped,
kicked off my boots, and ran toward the spot where lighting was set up.
It was cold out there, so I did as many jumps as I could in 30 seconds
to give Jordan as many shots as he could grab, and then ran back to put
my boots and coat back on while he looked at the shots he got. I
probably did that about three times, and three more times when we went
out to recreate the moment to make this video:
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