This year’s Brighton Fringe has seen some lovely dance-related shows and events and I recently got to visit a dance photography exhibition – The Space We Take.
The Space We Take by Hannah Mulligan took place at South East Dance on May 27. Firstly, I love visiting The Dance Space at South East Dance every opportunity I get because the staff are incredibly welcoming and the space itself has such a warm atmosphere. The exhibition was held in the Jamie Watton Creation Space, which is a multifunctional space housed within the building and acts as both a rehearsal as well as performance space and now, even an exhibition space!
The exhibition combined two of my favourite things – dance and photography. While we know that dance and performing arts have a strong interconnection with photography and videography, it is a bit rare to find an exhibition held for the sole purpose of displaying the products of this intersection. Capturing media in any form is also an art and this exhibition established that.
Hannah Mulligan’s photographs featured dancers like KJ Mortimer, Mandy Tan and Aeron Preston whose own voices regarding taking up space in the dance world were interspersed between the photographs. The photographs themselves involved a play of colour, light and the dancer’s own bodies, reflecting the different elements of performance in interaction with each other. The photographer also included an unique participatory element within the exhibition where attendees could play with similar lights as used by dancers and take up space within the exhibition to experience their own interpretation of it. There was also a welcoming pin-board for feedback that could be left for the photographer or just to express what one felt after witnessing the exhibition, right outside the space.
Overall, I am really glad that I got to visit this fascinating exhibition of dance photography which I am hoping is the first of many to come for Brighton.
