DANCER

From letting loose in the loungeroom to enthralling audiences on stage, this National Portrait Gallery exhibition celebrates dance and dancers. Capturing the beauty of movement, self-expression and connection, the works on display in DANCER were collaboratively curated and choreographed by the National Portrait Gallery together with a group of local dancers.

DANCER comprises 50 exhibition prints and two audio-visual works. Some of the themes addressed in the exhibition include the accessibility of dance to all, the authentic joy to be experienced through dance, and how art, life, body and nature all connect in dance. The images on display also show dance connecting humanity across time through cultural knowledge, teaching and legacies. The exhibition offers space for imagination, empathy and curiosity about different ways of understanding the world and the confidence and wellbeing that flows from this.

Portraits from the Gallery’s collection include dance legends Gideon Obarzanek, Kristian Fredrikson, Graeme Murphy, Janet Vernon, Robert Helpmann, Marilyn Rowe and Anna Pavlova. These are interpreted and contextualised through stunning, relatable images of people dancing by some of Australia’s leading photographers. In the text accompanying the works, dancers from all over Australia share their personal experiences, giving an insider perspective on lives lived through dance.