S I M P LY A & E
TA STE M A KE R
Above: The reigning Miss Georgia Senior America is also a dancer with the Atlanta Silver Classix Crew (below). Photos: Tory Poarch
1971 through 1973. I quit for eight years while I was a housewife, and we moved to Atlanta. Eventually I looked for a small company where I could fit in. That’s when I found Ruth Mitchell (of the Ruth Mitchell Dance Theatre in Marietta) and got back into it. I danced there for 16 years, and I still do every once in a while. I was also in Lee Harper’s 2012 show with the Atlanta Symphony and her holiday shows. And the photography? I got paid for my first job in 1975, but I didn’t really care. It was just something I did to make extra money. I had been out of dance for a while when Ruth Mitchell hired me to take photos. Then another studio hired me. It helped that I was very connected in the Atlanta dance community. I’ve been doing it steadily now since 1982, and I work with about 40 studios. I’ve been very fortunate to shoot incredibly gorgeous dancers.
Above: One of Keiki Guest’s photographs, “Sphyrl” from the Shadowdance collection. Right: Keiko Guest. Photos: Keiko Guest Photography
Shooting star Buckhead dancer focuses her lens on movement
K
eiko Guest can’t quite pinpoint which came first: her photography or her love of dance. Both have been knitted into the fabric of her life story with equal strands of passion. And at 64, the Buckhead resident has no thoughts of giving up either. The official photographer for some of the city’s leading dance troupes, she is noted for her candid action shots of dancers in motion that may show up in an event program or a portfolio. She travels around the extended metro area to capture dancers with the North Atlanta Dance Theatre, Ballethnic, the Atlanta Jazz Theatre, Dancentre South and the Gwinnett Ballet Theatre. But she’s just as likely to be at the barre as shooting it. Her latest adventure is aerial dance, that hangingoff-the-ropes sort of air ballet that fascinates Cirque du Soleil fans. She’s also a member of the Atlanta Silver Classix Crew, an over-50 hip-hop group that often takes to the court during Hawks’ games.
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March/April 2014 | Simply Buckhead
STORY:
H.M. Cauley
How did dancing and photography come together for you? My mother loved to dance, so I grew up doing the jitterbug and cha-cha. My dad was very gadget-y. He had cameras in the ’50s when they weren’t a household item. So I’ve done both since I was a little girl. But dance was where my heart was, even though I knew I wasn’t right for it—I don’t have the right proportions or joints. But I know it well enough that I can tweak the best out of people I shoot. What was your dance career like? I started dancing seriously as a 20-yearold, after I saw “Swan Lake” and went nuts. I knew I had to do that. I was living in Louisville, Ky., and started taking classes. Then a friend convinced me to go with her to try out for the Louisville Ballet. I knew I had no chance, but I never got cut—even though my friend did. I danced there from
Have you ever exhibited your work? Once in a while. I have what I call a “Shadow Dance” collection, works of 5 feet by 7 feet, and some of them are on display at Dance 101 at Briarcliff and North Druid Hills Road. My first show was part of Bill Lowe Gallery’s anniversary show in 2007, and I had 44 pieces that drew a lot of attention but didn’t sell well. I’m working on a show at the Ferst Center (at Georgia Tech) I’m calling “Bronze” that’s mostly nudes. They’re breathtakingly gorgeous. What do you do to keep in shape? Part of it is my mentality; I feel like a little preteen having fun. I’ve also been into aerial dance for two years. All my life I’ve wanted to tumble, and every time I tried, I hurt myself. When I turned 60, I saw a show where they climbed silks and danced, and I wanted to do that. So now I go to classes near Grant Park. You’d be surprised what I can do as a 64-year-old! What else might surprise people to learn about you? That I’m the reigning Ms. Georgia Senior America! I won the title in June and went to the Ms. Senior America Pageant last October in Atlantic City. I did an aerial piece that stunned everybody, but I didn’t win. I’m also a survivor of the Costa Concordia (the cruise ship that ran aground off the coast of Italy in January 2012). I was very popular with the media for a few days! n KEIKO GUEST www.keikoguestphotography.com