Missed Nuance is a new art film made for anyone who’s ever marvelled at the athleticism and grace of a ballet dancer. Created by Melbourne-based photographer Niv Novak, the film uses state-of-the-art technology to capture the dancers’ movement in ultra-slow motion. Through a series of moving portraits defined by breathtaking costumes, the film allows us to see movement in mesmerising detail.

Images from Missed Nuance © Niv Novak Photography

Dancers from The Australian Ballet, The Royal Ballet, Bolshoi Theatre and Queensland Ballet – among others – feature in Novak’s film, mostly as soloists. Sweeping battements, perfectly balanced turns and gravity-defying leaps are lit with chiaroscuro-like effect, revealing the bodies’ contours and enviable litheness.

Each movement is executed with total precision. Capturing these feats in high-definition slow motion suspends the dancers for long enough to offer an academic study of ballet’s idealised alignment. The artform has always been about finding shape in the body and projecting it forwards, and Novak’s footage frames it handsomely. The glacial pace is also hypnotic; offering a perspective we can’t perceive in real time.

But the true strength of the film lies in the stunning costumes designed by Belinda Pieris, Akira...