The next few weeks of the retrospective have been curated by photographer Chris Nash.
“My relationship with Greenwich Dance has always been tied up with the Borough Hall, that magnificent Art Deco building on Royal Hill that is now – sadly – boarded up. It was also empty when I first came across it in the early 80’s, as part of an artist’s collective looking into the possibility of turning it into studio space. It was too big a project for us to take on, but I remember the excitement as we wondered across the vast floor of the main hall, imagining what an incredible creative resource it could be. So I was delighted when, a decade or so later, Greenwich Dance moved in and I could start to use the different spaces that the building offered for photo shoots. But more than that, Greenwich Dance was a place to create, with a group of people and resources that enabled me to make and show work, to collaborate and experiment, to learn and explore. The photographs that I’ve included were made between 1998 and 2017, and were either commissioned by Greenwich Dance for their Compass Commissions series, or are from shoots that took place in the Borough Hall.”
Chris Nash
New Art Club. Photo: Chris Nash
“In 2009 New Art Club were ten years on from our breakout show This Is Modern and were seeking new challenges. We were preparing for a run at Edinburgh Fringe with a show called The Extra Ordinary World Of New Art Club. We needed some images that were attention grabbing, funny and a bit arty. The idea was fairly simple, take two blokes in blue catsuits and put them somewhere incongruous. Buying an ice cream, taking the dog for a walk etc. I remember the day as being both embarrassing, hilarious and cold. We do a set up in the park or on the street and then run back to the Borough Hall for tea and biscuits. A safe haven from the world as always. We’ve been working with Chris ever since.”
Tom Roden
Jonathan Burrows' The Quiet Dance. Photo: Chris Nash
Both Sitting Duet (2002), The Quiet Dance (2005) and Speaking Dance (2006) form the
first trilogy of duets made by choreographer Jonathan Burrows and composer Matteo
Fargion. Their work is a gentle exploration into how the relationship between music and dance is perceived and the fragile but permeable boundaries between the two worlds. It is a
formal but humorous meditation on the nature of communication, and the relationship
between the two performers and their audience.
“This was taken on the stage in the Minor Hall, with the old projection screen framing Jonathan and Matteo. I was aiming for a quiet simplicity in these pictures and I think the distribution of tone, the composition and this contemplative moment where they are turning away from the viewer really capture that mood.”
Chris Nash
