Meet Tati Vice | Artist and photographer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Tati Vice and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Tati, why did you pursue a creative career?
Since I became aware that I could dance. I fell in love with ballet, the movement, the structure and discipline of it. I grew up in a home full of girls, and being neurodivergent, I found that ballet gave me a moment of freedom, of structure, I could fly!
After retiring from dance, I started experimenting with the camera. Photography has always been a hobby, but I felt that I could push a little more and grasp the movement, the power, the emotion and energy that I loved so much. So, I did.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I started my career as a dancer in Brazil, where I was born and raised.
At the time, there was no “formal” training in Dance, so I enrolled in the Art Education Program at the Federal University in Rio for 2 years, while training as a ballet dancer. I trained under the many great professionals in town, worked in a few Dance Companies and finally found Angel Vianna’s school, where I studied Movement and Contemporary Dance, eventually falling in love with the Contact Improvisation form.

Being exposed to such a realm of talent, formed in me a great curiosity about other art forms, and Dance was making its way into Theatre and Visual Arts, short movies and photography studies.

I moved to Houston in 2008, and only after 2 years, I found out about the dance community in town, through the Hope Stone Dance Studio. Photography was still a hobby, something I enjoyed, but I could never imagine that it would take me down the path that it did. It would take me a few years until I tried to translate my passion for the movement into an image that could capture it.

It was not easy, I had to teach myself, I had to learn about all the technical language, invest in a grown-up camera, spend long hours of practice, making terrible mistakes, getting it right, getting it wrong, dealing with anxiety and my own insecurities. I had to learn how to SEE things, not just to look at them. I’d photograph anything in front of me, studying the light, the composition, the Masters; I just kept pushing it because there was this image inside my head, there was something that I wanted to say, or wanted people to see it too.

When I started photographing dance performances, I felt a tremendous sense of gratitude for being able to be in the theatre, among my tribe, in a place that felt like home. And I guess that, my previous experience as a dancer, made me understand a little bit about what was going on in front of my camera.

I’ve learned that I could capture the movement, the artist’s expressions in those fleeting moments rarely perceived, which only a photograph can show. My favorite thing is when I can get a trace of the movement, slowing down the shutter and then, voilà! the movement has happened on the space. It’s magic!

I’ve also discovered that I’m very much interested in capturing expressions, emotions, the things that make us all raw and beautifully human. I always tell my students that photographs are the only way we can see our history, our past and register the future. This is fascinating to me.

At the moment, I’m content in exploring this path and I can only hope that I’m contributing in some way, to keeping the memories of our human beauty, alive.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I’d recommend a walk around to see the Menil collection, grab a bite at the Bistro Menil and walk enjoy the Rothko Chapel. Also, there is always something interesting exhibits at the Houston Center of Photography.

Visiting the museum district is always fun, my favorite part of H town.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Yes! First I’m grateful for Kelly Vitacca that gave me my very first assignment to photograph a show and believed in my talent.

Jane Wiener from Hope Stone, for the incredible opportunities to photograph the dancers that took me to places I never could imagine. Also, through the Art for All project where I photograph the children’s joy discovering Art and to witness their talent.

John Stronks, from Houston MET dance for the collaboration and sense of humour, and to the great Houston Dance community who were always very supportive of my work.

Website: https://tativice.com

Instagram: @tativice

Image Credits
1- Kyra Wentzlaff 2- Jax Neal 3- Violet Moon 4- Lindsey McGill 5-VItacca Ballet Dancers 6- Vitacca Ballet School 7- Donna Crump 8- Houston MET Dance