Pablo Bronstein: Historical Dances in an Antique Setting

Delightful performance art event at Tate Britain conceived by Pablo Bronstein.

The work takes over the Duveen Gallery on the first floor and reinterprets the space. At each end of the gallery are large photographs of each of the galleries entrances which seem to emphasis the classical architecture of the internal space. Into this are placed three dancers, dressed in red and black and wearing mock pearls, which turns the space into a promenade area. The dancers reinterpret baroque dance styles in a very set sequence in which each scene moves up the gallery space.

I found the whole thing mesmeric. I loved the fact that the dancers rotated their roles and kept going throughout the day so as you dip in and out of other galleries you return to find the dance still going. It gives it a feeling of human perpetual motion. Both the dance and the photo graphs make you look at the space with a fresh eye.  I also loved that the dancers were in your space and you could walk between them and move up the space with them. The whole effect was to make people art.

It has to be said too that the dancers were fantastic!

Closes 9 October 2016.

 

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