Into the Deep

Julie Gautier is a dancer. A marvelous dancer. A dancer who dances in water that lifts her hair, slows her movements and allows her to leap and fly and spin. Her newest, mesmerizing work, AMA, was filmed on a stage in the deepest diving pool in the world, called Y-40, in Italy (nearly 140 feet to the very bottom). It is timeless, yet also very much of its time. The performance required the pool, which opened in 2014, high-quality underwater cameras and also the internet. Since March, more than a half million people all over the world have seen the video on Vimeo and YouTube. Art can happen anywhere—even in a diving pool—and connect everywhere. 

The original "bathing beauty," of course, was 1940s aquatic film siren Esther Williams. The interview includes a visit to the film set pool where all the magic happened, including a routine with cartoon characters (Tom & Jerry) and a dive off of an 80' platform that emerged from the water disguised as a fountain. 

Williams' movies helped spark interest in synchronized swimming, a sport that for most fades from memory between Olympics. It is hard to get into a sport where all you see are legs quickly thrust into the air and a lot of splashing.The artistry is underwater so that's where the cameras should be, too. 

Related: 
• Les Films Engloutus | website
• Why can't men be Olympic synchronised swimmers? | BBC
• Hat tip re AMA to the marvelous design blog Colossal