Ballet photographer Lahesoo says strong images require more than technique

Ballet photographer Rünno Lahesoo told ERR that a good photograph is never merely a technical capture of a dancer’s performance. He said better equipment increases the likelihood of capturing the precise moment he wants, but technique alone does not make the image.

Lahesoo is best known as a successful ballet photographer and previously worked as a ballet dancer. He said his mother, who had studied at the Vanemuine ballet studio and danced at the Vanemuine theatre, first introduced him to dance.

Born in Tartu, Lahesoo moved with his family to Tänassilma near Viljandi when he was five. He spent a year in ballroom dancing but found the travel to Viljandi difficult and the training too repetitive. His mother then took him to entrance examinations at the Tallinn Choreography School, where he was accepted.

“Ballroom dancing was a little boring for me, in the sense that there was even more repetition than in ballet,” Lahesoo said. “One movement was polished again and again. It was not really for me.”

He said the teacher who influenced him most was Vyacheslav Maimussov, who taught his class for about a year. Maimussov had studied in Leningrad with Mikhail Baryshnikov and was known for explaining technique precisely.

“He could say: ‘Throw your leg there, put your hand there, turn twice and land like this.’ Then you did it and it worked,” Lahesoo said.

Before Maimussov, Lahesoo was taught by Frunze Stepanyan, who focused less on technique and more on posture and stage presence. Enn Suve later gave students room to develop, while Yuri Yekimov taught mainly by demonstrating movements rather than explaining them.

Lahesoo said the combination of teachers gave the students a broad foundation: one explained what to do, another demonstrated how it should look, and a third taught them how to carry themselves on stage.

While studying under Yekimov, Lahesoo began receiving roles at the theatre. He danced smaller solo parts in The Nutcracker, Swan Lake and other productions. After graduating from ballet school in 1992, he joined the Estonia theatre and immediately received roles including the Pas de trois in Swan Lake, the Chinese Dance in The Nutcracker and one of the two soldiers in A Tale of Love.