A Dance Underground
A Gesture of Life in Transit
So, this particular tattoo started with a client who came to me with an idea: she wanted an image of two women in an intimate, affectionate pose—hugging, maybe dancing, something that felt tender and full of connection. And right away, it reminded me of this black-and-white photograph I’d once seen in a magazine at the dentist’s office. I hadn’t even read the article because I didn’t understand German at the time, but the image stayed with me.
It showed two women dressed in men’s clothing, suddenly dancing right there in the middle of a Moscow subway car. Everyone around them looked so ordinary, commuting with those grey morning faces, and here were these two women just lost in their own little dance. There was this beautiful tenderness between them, a look of complicity that felt both surprising and a little bit enviable to the people around them.
What struck me most was how this was a moment of quiet interruption. In a place built for routine, for people just passing through, they chose to be fully present. They created a fleeting but unforgettable gesture of life where no one was asking for it. And that’s exactly what we turned into the tattoo: a reminder that the most meaningful moments are often the ones that don’t shout. They just happen, and you either notice them or you don’t.
notattoo_berlin
A Playlist for “Presence”:
Max Richter – “On the Nature of Daylight”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVN1B-tUpgsNils Frahm – “Says”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzD6vQhQ2zYNick Drake – “Place to Be”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GM017zM1j0Agnes Obel – “Riverside”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjncyiuwwXQÓlafur Arnalds – “Near Light”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSz3nOHdJXMBill Evans – “Peace Piece”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uiQ5P0aRJesSufjan Stevens – “Mystery of Love”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQT32vW61eI