How to Dance the Waltz by Michal Chelbin, created between 2008 and 2020, captures portraits of adolescents in institutional contexts—ranging from Ukrainian military schools to Spanish matador academies—to investigate how uniforms and rituals enforce social expectations during adolescence.
It follows young people as they navigate the visual and social codes embedded in ceremonies and coming-of-age rituals. Chelbin began the work amid a resurgence of traditional gender expectations in post-communist Ukraine and the enduring pageantry of Spanish bullfighting schools, with her own Israeli background in military service informing the investigation.
Thematically, the series interrogates the dissonance between outward appearances and internal identity. Through portraits of teenagers dressed in regimented or symbolic attire, Chelbin explores how clothing linked to adulthood or historical customs creates a tension between the maturity implied by the costume and the visible youth of the sitter. Building on this, the project also explores performance—how institutions shape behavior and reinforce gender roles through appearance and conduct.
The photographs are in color, square in format, and feature sitters posed directly facing the camera with a calm, unwavering gaze. Subjects are posed in formal yet subtly idiosyncratic ways, heightening the sense of artificiality and revealing the individuals beneath the surface. The uniforms and ceremonial outfits—vivid, ornate, and symbolic—anchor the photographs in their respective cultural contexts while also emphasizing themes of conformity and distinction.
Technically speaking, Chelbin works with natural light only, often indoors near windows, sometimes with a reflector. She composes entirely in-camera, avoiding cropping and limiting post-production to minimal tonal adjustments.
Upon its release as a monograph in 2021, How to Dance the Waltz was exhibited in solo shows in New York and Jaffa and featured in outlets like Vogue and the New York Times. Critics praised the project for combining emotional subtlety with cultural insight, offering a layered exploration of identity, self-presentation, and adolescence.
