Dance (All Night, Paris), 2011

Single channel video, aspect ratio 16:9, 12 min 37 sec, HD, stereo sound

Dance (All Night, Paris) focuses on the act of dancing in public and examines a range of meanings embedded in dancing as a communal experience. Collective dancing is intrinsic and indigenous to all civilisations, including our own western cultures. As Barbara Ehrenreich points out in her incisive study ‘Dancing in the Streets. A history of collective joy’ (2007) communal forms of celebration are powerful rites that connect the individual to both a sense of self and a possible sense of belonging. From the medieval dance manias sweeping across Northern Europe to the more recent ‘mobile clubbing’ networks there are many examples where dance takes on subversive qualities, challenging both social codes of behaviour and the regulation of public space.

Dance (All Night, Paris) brings together ten forms of dancing, from Tango and Waltz to Hip Hop and Rock, occupying one space side-by-side, simultaneously, creating a multiplicity of movements and rhythms. Performed by amateur dancers on silent sound systems and filmed on three cameras the work both observes and creates a space where coherence and dissonance briefly coexist. The project was commissioned by Nuit Blanche, Paris and took place in the context of the event in 2011.