Welcome
I'm often asked what Venus Geist means and where I got the name. Venus, alternately spelled Vanessa, is the feminine essence while Tiegs is the anagram of German Geist, meaning spirit, genius or ghost.
The first half of my life, I was an artist, beginning my career performing at age 15 as the youngest corps de ballet dancer with The Zurich Ballet under the artistic direction of Rudolf Nureyev. I performed on world-class stages: The Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center & The Kennedy Center, dancing in ballets "Manfred," "Don Quixote," "Petrouchka," "Sleeping Beauty," "La Sylphide," and "La Conservatoire."
During my college years, I studied music theory & performed classical piano.
Photography Was My Earliest Calling
At age 10, my father had a dark room & showed me how to develop photographs from negatives the old-fashioned way.
In 2010, I opened my photography studio and using a state of the art Digital SLR (Canon EOS 7D), I committed to photographing one subject for 365 consecutive days. The following year, I published a hardcover book, a labor of love to my Golden Retriever.
Getty Images, Avanti Press, and a U.K. press licensed some of my photographs.
My "Vivi's Ballerina Dream," photograph series became the campaigning posters for Dancers Love Dogs, a not-for-profit organization in South Africa where dancers fundraise each year in Cape Town, Durban & Johannesburg to help shelter dogs. In the photograph series, I wear the pointe shoes worn by Gelsey Kirkland in her 1976 performance of "La Sylphide" at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, New York.
After her performance, I visited Ms. Kirkland in her dressing room where she gifted me her pair of pointe shoes when I asked her. Today, her gift keeps on giving, now as part of a loving mission that has helped over 25,000 homeless dogs throughout South Africa since 2012.
A Passion For Dance Photography
My mother was a dancer and immersed my childhood in ballet, acting, & music. Using my trained eye for details, I later photographed dancers I coached. One student joined the Gelsey Kirkland Academy of Classical Ballet in New York, another joined the Kirov Ballet Academy in D.C.
Other Creative Aspects of Life
I also practiced calligraphy & model building (interning at Robert A.M. Stern Architects & Skidmore Owings & Merrill in NYC before constructing & photographing my own set designs called Miniarcs). My other self-taught interest was astrology. I learned Hellenistic techniques following my archaeological travels around Old Europe in the 90's. After returning to the United States in 2000, I integrated Evolutionary techniques. By 2012, I found my mentor, Zsuzsanna Griga, a Transcendental Karmic Astrologer, from Budapest. During free time, I experiment with Vedic techniques. I also invented a clock that tells phasal time by putting life into cyclical context.
In 2024, the translated meaning of my given full name dawned on me. Using A.I. enhancement skills, I created virtual Venus Geist Portraits from client selfies.
Thank you sincerely for your valued time.
Vanessa Tiegs, Masters of Women's Spirituality & Phi Beta Kappa Cum Laude
Contact
© Copyright 2000-2025 Vanessa Tiegs. All rights reserved.
If you wish to reproduce photographs on this website a license must be obtained from Vanessa Tiegs. Multiple derivatives, including A.I. generated digital renditions, require royalty fees.
We need your consent to load the translations
We use a third-party service to translate the website content that may collect data about your activity. Please review the details in the privacy policy and accept the service to view the translations.