Ascendance - Through the lens….
From the Canvas to the Stage, Art Takes Flight at Sadlers Wells Theatre
City Academy proudly presents Ascendance, a breathtaking fusion of dance, music, and art, brought to life in collaboration with Chelsea Arts Club and Kingston University.
At Sadler’s Wells Theatre—a space synonymous with the evolution of contemporary dance Ascendance unfolded not just as a performance, but as a layered collaboration of artistic voices. Featuring creatives across choreography, music, and visual arts, forming something closer to a living ecosystem than a traditional stage show.
Photographing the dress rehearsal in addition to the performance gave me the unique opportunity to move within the performance and capture moments from an alternative perspective.
The choreography itself spanned an unusually wide spectrum of styles. Contemporary alongside Flamenco, the precision of Ballet contrasting with the rhythmic pulse of Salsa and Commercial dance. From my perspective the variance of movement and the live projections required constant adjustment to accommodate the changing light and the depth of field consideration.
The curators—represented through a roster of choreographic voices including Nuria Garcia, Dani K, Maksym Shpachynskyi, Rory Cubbin, Kirill Burlov, Adrian Del Arroyo, and Rachel Hollings—together constructed a programme that felt intentionally plural. Rather than imposing a single aesthetic, each choreographer’s style had space to breathe, while maintaining an overarching cohesion.
A standout presence within this framework was guest artist José Agudo. His movement quality—rooted in contemporary technique yet deeply influenced by theatrical storytelling, there’s a weight to his gestures, a grounded intensity that resists being reduced to a single frame.
Equally vital to the experience—the live music performances and bespoke prerecorded pieces dovetailed perfectly with the choreography and projections, such attention to detail, an additional atmospheric elevation.
Lastly the original immersive visual projections, transformed the stage into something fluid and unstable—a shifting canvas that the dancers moved within and against. Photographing these moments required a careful negotiation: exposing for the performers without losing the texture of the projected art. Through the view finder, at times this could be quite hypnotic and I had to frequently remind myself not only to watch but remember to capture too.
Ascendance wasn’t a single story—it was many, told simultaneously, across bodies, sounds, and surfaces…. So much expression and joy on display it really was a pleasure to photograph.
My special shout out to my good friends Anastasia Beltyukova and J C Wright, responsible for some truly awe inspiring visual projections and original music respectively.