Jackie Bologna // New York City, NY

🎶 Billy he's down by the railroad tracks
Diamond Jackie, she's so intact
… 
Oh, she won't take the train, no, she won't take the train
She's afraid them tracks are gonna slow her down
🎶
- New York City Serenade, Bruce Springsteen

My cousin Maxwell and I share a strong love for The Boss’ music, instilled into us by his father Mark, my father’s brother. So when I told Max to accompany me to NYC for a week of photographing ballerinas, he immediately asked if we could head across to New Jersey and see Bruce’s hometown. Of course I said no, but that didn’t stop Max from singing Springsteen’s lyrics all weekend, and eating as many slices of NY style pizza as we could.

Jackie is a ballerina that had been on my radar to photograph for quite some time, and the first moment I had a chance to head to NYC, I reached out. I try to make it out to NYC at least once a year, and when I had run out of ballerinas the previous time I was in NYC, I jokingly asked a non-ballerina friend if she knew anybody who danced, and serendipitously she pointed me to Jackie, a NYCB dancer; needless to say, I couldn’t believe it, and reached out instantly. Though we couldn’t make it work then, we stayed in touch, even doing a FaceTime shoot during April 2020 COVID-19 stay-at-home order. 

🎶Hey, vibes man, hey, jazz man, ah, play me a serenade 
Straight from the church note ringing, vibes man sting a trash can 🎶

When asked what to wear, I told Max to dress like Bruce Springsteen might dress for his first album cover. It was only a coincidence that Jackie had a rocker leather jacket… or that it was actually cold. The train tracks only add to the Boss vibes. Jackie is one of those ballerinas you don’t forget, and the tracks do probably would slow her down.

October 30, 2020