To me, one of the challenges that modern art poses to the public is not being understood. I’ve attended this contemporary dance performance event where dancers were being juxtaposed with a huge art installation which was a bit hard to even see. I believe we all forgot about that for a bit when the dancing started. Watch the video below!

This was at the Roundhouse in London not long ago. The artist Conrad Shawcross was exhibiting one of his pieces, a huge eight metre faceless clock, which he used to play with light and shadow. This was his attempt to make us see the concept of time differently.

First, there was a chat where the organiser and the artist spoke briefly about the whole concept before the dance performance started.

The choreographer Wayne McGregor was also there to explain how he had devised the performance below to happen around the piece. He has worked with emerging dancers in Britain. One thing did strike me of the whole thing, though – the concept of ‘pay what you think it’s fair’.

I hadn’t heard of it until a few years ago, when this French restaurant first opened near my place. The idea was to make diners pay what they thought it was a good price for their food, drink and service. I’ve heard that people used to leave no less than £15 per head excluding wine. It seemed as if the same concept had been translated into the arts.

Hope you enjoy the video below. I shot it on my mobile phone (yes, that was allowed!). Yes, it was dark. Very. Sometimes, there wouldn’t be any music at all. It all lasted for about two and a half hours, but the video is only about four minutes’ long.

Did you like the performance?

Thanks for reading my post.
A Londoner from Afar