Photoshoot contrasts beauty of ballet with backdrop of vandalized Confederate statue

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Virginia ballet dancer, Ava Holloway used vandalized Confederate statues as a backdrop for a photoshoot contrasting the beauty of dance.

Statues of Confederate leaders were vandalized and destroyed across the country as part of nationwide civil rights protests in the wake of George Floyd's death.

The reaction to the photos took Holloway by surprise, she said.

"We definitely weren't expecting this at all," she said.

The ballet community is about love, said Holloway.

"The statue behind us definitely is not a person of love," she said. "Love overcomes hate and you can just see a big reaction from the community."

Holloway wanted to help push a moment for social change.