About

“Salto Ergo Sum” in Latin translates to

“I dance therefore I am”

But what is it about? Is it a tribute to René Descartes’s philosophy “Cogito ergo sum” which translates to “I think, therefore I am”? Maybe, but it is so much more than that and you’re about to find out that it means the world to us and can change the world for us. And we are thrilled you came to us to change the world together.

… it’s a “unique art project transformed into a social enterprise”.

This purpose-based project was founded by emerging artist Sanaz Hanke and comprises a series of artworks representing several dances made from the foot and body prints of dancers, who were led by Sanaz to perform as human brushes. The current art pieces are pioneering studies of the soon to be created masterpieces, which will capture the footprints of underprivileged street and village children from all around the globe, starting in Madagascar. Sanaz wants to raise awareness of life’s essential values and create a change in the world through the magic of dance and movement. Each masterpiece is documented through multiple forms of artistic expression, such as the final art canvas and cross-media technologies combined with each other. She uses a unique combination of tools such as photography, videography, drone-footage, post-production art prints, and animated NFTs. Her art prints are for instance shot from above while photos are taken from all around the performances to complement the artwork itself unveiling the entire artistic process. In her post-production works, she animates these art prints to draw the viewers attention, capture the curiosity we are all born with and pull the viewer into her dynamic images.

For Sanaz art converts into something tangible, translucent, and transcending. But art alone won’t change the world.

 We will make use of art and with it change the world.

Our goal is to make a positive impact on society through our activities and be able to effectively find solutions to some of the world’s most pressing problems as identified by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Additionally creating jobs and providing opportunities for under-served communities, helping to reduce poverty, and promoting economic growth are part of our mission. A pioneering example of our work is with Wings of Change, a non-profit organization and vocational hotel school in Madagascar, where Sanaz has been teaching Computer Science to underprivileged teens for 2 years. Seeing the need of having more laptops available to learn and practice with in class as the students have never had previous contact with technology, drives us to offer the very first proceeds of our artwork into buying equipment for 60 students.

To find out more about the Founder and the idea behind the project, click here to read more.

To find out more about the history of our project, click here to read more.

The process explained

The project provides a series of limited-edition art prints resulting in the original canvas artwork from various epic dances. Each printed artwork was created by capturing the footage of our dancer’s steps and movements and later edited in post-production, showing 60 dynamic movements, all through a camera attached to a crane.

The commencement of the process entails a canvas being affixed to the ground, with the camera suspended above it, as we apply vibrant and eco-friendly tempera paint on the dancer’s feet. The dancer then steps, glides and dances across the canvas as if performing on a grand stage before a captivated audience. As the music plays, the dancer initiates the routine, undulating gracefully and weaving intricate patterns onto the canvas, using either feet, hands or both and sometimes other body parts such as the head and shoulders, all depending on the dance.

In the initial frame on the top left of the art prints, an either untouched or with a base-color prepared canvas can be observed, followed by the dancer’s emergence in the subsequent frames. As the dancers executes the performances, the movements and forms generated will be visible on the canvas. The finale concluding frame on the bottom right of the last art print symbolizes the original canvas painting and is the culmination of the entire dance performance. The entirety of the dance choreography shall be represented by the aggregation of several frames, which are captured in sets of 60 on each individual art print, available in sets of 3 (Flamenco & Sevillanas), 4 (Classical Ballet The Swan Lake) and 5 (HipHop & Breakdance) of the 3 pioneering dances, amounting to a total of 180, 240 and 300 frames. The complete set demonstrates the whole course of the artwork’s fabrication and all the diligence, expertise, passion, and exertion that are imparted to it.

The award-winning photography shows living creations with movement, where each set of art prints portrays the entire lifecycle of the original artwork creation, turning art into an approachable craft and transforming the dancer’s progression upon the canvas as a masterpiece in itself.