Stuart Allen

Middle Eastern (Belly Dance), 2002


Ballet (Saut de Basque), 2002


Swing (Lift), 2002


Waltz, 2002


Samba, 2002


Moshing (Self Portrait), 2002


Polka, 2002

Stuart Allen's projects are very very interesting. This one called Dance Lines is one of my favorites. Here is how he describes it :

Dance Lines is a series of black and white photographs made on-site in the Grand Ballroom of Sacramento, California's Crocker Art Museum. Building on the artist's previous investigations of time-based motion, Night Lines (1997 - 1998) and Studio Lines (2000 - 2001), Dance Lines documents the intricate movement of dancers as they perform before the camera.

Using a distinctly photographic device - the light trail produced by a moving light during a long exposure - the artist has recorded maps or diagrams of various dance forms on film. Though not a dancer himself, Allen has worked with specialists in a variety of disciplines, from ballet to swing, to determine the most effective sequence of moves for each image. (From the 2003 exhibition press release, Dance Lines: Photographs by Stuart Allen. Courtesy Crocker Art Museum.)

My favorite dance is swing. It's funny that it is the only dance that doesn't seem to have a special pattern. It is the one that looks completely chaotic...
And I like the way Polka and Moshing look alike, but the difference stands in the energy levels. Polka's attention is on the feet while Moshing is much higher up.

+Stuart Allen