Sapira Cheuk: Pas De Deux, in the Time of Quarantine

Pas De Deux, in the Time of Quarantine is a project, where dancers quarantined in Santiago, Chile; Los Angeles, California; Berlin Germany; Sofia, Bulgaria; Buseyi, Iganga, Uganda; Albuquerque, New Mexico; and many other locations around the world submitted videos dancing wherever they are quarantined. Videos were then paired and the stills transformed into these paintings; as if the dancers were occupying the same space, dancing, and connecting, together.

“Pas De Deux” is a ballet term that refers to a dance of two people, something difficult to achieve with physical separation, especially during the worldwide COVID 19 pandemic. 

When a certain diagnosis is assigned, it alters immediately the patient’s outlook on life. It separates a diagnosed body from a non-diagnosed body - not just physically, but also psychologically. The diagnosis acts as a timestamp that separates not only the ‘normal’ healthy body from the ‘diseased’ body, but also life, pre and post-diagnosis for the patient. The quarantine orders during the 2020 COVID 19 pandemic acted similarly, at once separating and isolating. The world was collectively diagnosed, and collectively experienced loss. As the world lived through this change, folks sought out new ways of connecting and coping. The project Pas De Deux, in the time of quarantine is one way art was used to form connections and cope with that change. At the same time, the project aims to document art being produced under these historical conditions. --Sapira Cheuk

On exhibit at Windmill Library from January 31 through April 23, 2023

Reception on Tuesday, February 21 from 5:30-7:00 p.m.

Monday: 10:00AM – 8:00PM
Tuesday: 10:00AM – 8:00PM
Wednesday: 10:00AM – 8:00PM
Thursday: 10:00AM – 8:00PM
Friday: 10:00AM – 6:00PM
Saturday: 10:00AM – 6:00PM
Sunday: 10:00AM – 6:00PM