Dance Podcast Episode 157: Capturing Movement, Memory + Authenticity, Corey Haynes

#157: In this episode of the Dance Behind the Screen Podcast, host Martheya Nygaard Scott sits down with Corey Haynes, Texas-based writer and visual artist working primarily in photography and mixed media, to explore movement, memory, authenticity, and the role photography plays in documenting creative communities.

Corey shares her journey from photographing friends and everyday life to finding her artistic home in dance photography. She reflects on how years of collaborating with artists and organizations across North Texas have shaped an approach rooted in trust, curiosity, and capturing what is actually happening rather than constructing the “perfect” image.

The conversation explores what makes movement photography feel alive, why Corey gravitates toward improvisation and unposed moments, and how dancers can work more intentionally with photographers to communicate their stories. Corey also shares practical advice for choosing a photographer, preparing for a shoot, understanding pricing, and creating images that support portfolios, performances, marketing, and grant applications.

Corey and Martheya also dig into authenticity in the age of social media, discussing the pressure artists face to create polished content, the importance of understanding your “why,” and why storytelling and genuine human connection can be more powerful than perfection.

Finally, Corey reflects on curiosity, experimentation, and play as essential creative practices and introduces her ongoing project, We’ve Come All This Way, which celebrates dancers over 50 while exploring aging, body image, movement, and our changing relationships with ourselves.

Chapters

00:00 Meet Corey Haynes + Flash Four

01:30 Libraries as a Creative Resource

02:30 Photography + the Power of Storytelling

03:30 Social Media + Building an Audience

04:00 Long-Form Visual Storytelling

06:00 Finding Storytelling Through the Camera

08:00 Finding Dance Photography

09:00 Documenting North Texas Creative Communities

11:00 From Event Photographer to Creative Collaborator

12:30 Capturing Movement in a Moment

14:00 Authenticity in Dance Photography

18:00 Authenticity + Social Media

20:00 Developing a Recognizable Photography Style

23:00 Imperfection + the Human Experience

25:00 Preparing for a Dance Photo Shoot

27:00 Communication + Creative Collaboration

29:00 How to Choose the Right Photographer

31:00 Valuing Creative Labor + Photography Rates

35:00 Behind the Scenes + Creative Process

37:30 Building an Authentic Creative Brand

40:00 Being of Service Through Art

41:00 Saying NO to the BOX Through Curiosity

44:00 Eight Years of Creative Collaboration

45:00 We’ve Come All This Way

47:00 Celebrating Dancers Over 50

48:00 Connect with Corey

Corey Haynes

Corey Haynes is a Texas-based writer and visual artist working primarily in photography and mixed media. Her work explores questions of memory and the philosophical nature of personhood, examining how images preserve moments while simultaneously revealing the distance that time creates between experience and recollection. Corey regularly collaborates with arts organizations in North Texas, including Arts Mission Oak Cliff, Agora Artists, and kNOwBOX dance. These partnerships inform her interest in documenting creative communities and the spaces where art and lived experience intersect.

Her work continues to explore how visual archives, both personal and collective, shape our understanding of who we are and how we remember.

Connect with Corey Haynes

Instagram: @pinkcords

Website: chaynesart.com

This season of the Dance Behind the Screen Podcast is supported in part by the Moody Fund for the Arts and our generous individual Season Sponsors,

Dexter & Jenel Evans and Helen & James Gallas.