Just let me dance

17-24 November, 2022 at Backhaus Projects, Berlin

Solo exhibition by Isabella Chydenius

Sound by C.M. Adams

Movement by Maddie Johnston

Curated by Nicole Beck

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Seas populated by flesh and fluid pulsate, undulate and vibrate. Each body, encompassed by unfamiliar companions, is rendered both vital and invisible. Subconsciously they collaborate to create a semblance of visual harmony. These herds of bodies write shared stories, layered with distinct anecdotes resting in the crevices of each individual’s bouncing bones. Moving with a crowded dancefloor is a simultaneously siloed and shared experience, an oscillation of opposites captured by Isabella Chydenius’ immersive exhibition installation Just let me dance.

Rolling waves and the rotating torso of a singular dancer converse meditatively across the gallery. Drawing this comparison, Chydenius references theorist Isadora Duncan’s thoughts on waves in dance, which ‘forms a stream of larger movements, overflowing ideas of immobility and singularity’. (1)  Each body ripples uniquely to produce a coordinated ocean of fluctuation; herein lies a symbiotic relationship of exchange, reliance, and solidarity.

Beneath this two-channel video piece, hazardous glass shards and puddles are scattered around the gallery floor. These markers of physical threat disrupt this utopic dancefloor narrative, outlining the dichotomy of freedom and fear that underpin nightlife spaces. Just let me dance may be a playful plea to a friend, or a confronting demand directed at a stranger.

In Just let me dance Chydenius references the transformative power of collective movement whilst addressing the shortcomings of the safe(r) spaces that host such experiences.
 

(1) Kasia Wolinska and Frida Sandström, 'The Future Body at Work', e-flux, 2019

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- Written by Nicole Beck