small museum presents 'I Dance Alone' by Bogomir Doringer

From Friday 13 October until Monday 15 January 2024, the small museum is proud to present the ongoing research project I Dance Alone by Bogomir Doringer, which started in 2014. This captivating visual study delves into the heart of nightclub culture, where Doringer, from a bird's eye perspective, skillfully documents flows of energetic dance floors worldwide. By suspending cameras above these vibrant dance spaces, he observes and captures the unique expressions of those who revel in the music and movement.

In 2015, Doringer started to train his lens and observe the vibrant dance floor of Paradiso during the Amsterdam Dance Event. After the pandemic, Doringer was invited by the small museum to return to Paradiso to re-document the nightclub's diverse nightlife. The socio-political changes that have developed over the past eight years, raised new thought-provoking questions for the artist: How has club culture evolved in the last eight years? What influence do socio-political changes have on the rhythms, rituals, and dance gestures witnessed on these dance floors? How do these socio-political shifts find expression and interpretation through dance? To Doringer, these dancing crowds are like clouds announcing shifts in weather conditions: "There is something truly enchanting and magical about witnessing individuals move freely within a space."

Zoomed-in perspective
In I Dance Alone, presented at the small museum, Doringer zooms in on the individual bodies that make up these collective dance floors. The editing of the captured dancers, executed by Doringer's longtime creative partner Rafael Kozdron, brings the viewer closer to the movements of each dancer and creates an intimate close-up to these individuals on the dance floor. Doringer asks us to think of the intentions behind these movements: What stories are being conveyed through these dances, and by whom? Ultimately, he compels us to reflect upon the nature of our own dances.

For Doringer, the focus on anonymous dancing bodies and their unique gestures has provided knowledge and insight into the ever-evolving landscape of club culture and how it reacts to or reflects on socio-political transformations. His research contributed to the revised manifestation of the city’s nightculture for the Amsterdam municipality. In addition, Doringer continues to advocate for the importance of nightlife and dancing as a practice of freedom of expression and movement.

Bogomir Doringer (Serbia, 1983) studied visual arts at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy. He continued his studies at the Dutch Film Academy where he completed his master's in film. Currently he works as an artistic research Ph.D'er at the University for Applied Arts in Vienna in which he continues his research in club and dance culture.