Step onto any dance floor and spoken conversation becomes secondary. Movement takes over, turning crowded rooms of strangers into shared spaces of release. At Paradise Works in Salford, British Chinese multidisciplinary artist and architect Donald Shek explores that dynamic in Dance With Me, a solo exhibition combining digital animation, motion-capture technology, soundscapes, and printmaking.
The project developed after Shek won the gallery’s It’s Paradise Up North prize in 2025. Supported by public funding from the National Lottery through Arts Council England, the exhibition examines how social dance spaces functioned across different eras of the British East and Southeast Asian diaspora.
Earlier generations gathered in formal dance halls, sharing steps within structured ballrooms. Their children and grandchildren took to the darkened basements of British rave culture, seeking communion through electronic rhythms.
Shek connects these two eras, using physical movement as an ongoing line of communication across generations.
“They circle what we no longer look at together,” Shek notes of the themes running through the space. “Dance with me, so we don’t fall.”
From Rave Nostalgia to Digital Bodies
Visitors begin their journey in an introductory vestibule titled Leave Your Fear Here.
The space features an illuminated neon sign and an arcade claw machine filled with conceptual blister packs styled after 1990s and 2000s British club graphics. Nearby, a phone screen loops a short video titled A Day in the Life, charting a lone figure moving through the repetitive commute of modern working life on autopilot.
Passing through a hand-drawn curtain, audiences enter the main gallery to encounter Dance With Me, a two-channel digital installation.
The screens display computer-generated figures moving through dreamlike architectural ruins and changing light environments.
Original scores by composers An-Ting Chang and Liam Spillane (Index|106) guide the room, shifting between club euphoria and quiet, slower registers.
To create the figures, Shek undertook research residencies with the Centre for Performance, Technology, and Equity at London’s Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, alongside Film and Video Umbrella and Nottingham Trent University. Working with professional dancers in motion-capture suits, Shek recorded physical movements and translated the performers’ kinetic energy into digital avatars.
Alongside the moving projections, three photopolymer etchings capture single moments from the video work, allowing viewers to stop and inspect individual gestures rendered in ink.
Community Gatherings and Exhibition Details
The show extends beyond the gallery walls with a series of community events running throughout the season.
Paradise Works will host Dance Box, a DJ-led evening of dance and performance with music by Andrew Parkes, as well as an artist discussion, a drypoint etching workshop, and Lunch Box, an intergenerational gathering pairing food with family storytelling.
The exhibition runs from 5 November to 13 December 2026, opening Thursday to Sunday between 12pm and 4pm. Admission is free, with no prior booking required.
Plan your visit and reserve spots for the live performance series on the official Paradise Works website today.
