I photographed a rehearsal of Merce Cunningham Dance Company’s ‘Points in Space’ in 1987 at Sadlers Wells.

It drew its title from Albert Einstein’s statement, "There are no fixed points in space." Cunningham eliminated the traditional concept of a single "center stage" focus, treating all directions and points on the stage or screen as equally valid. Dancers enter, assemble, and disperse in fluid, non-hierarchical patterns.

I was drawn to the sculptural style of the dance where the dancers would form into groups and momentarily freeze in beautiful shapes.

I have recently digitally remastered the negatives containing the post powerful sculptural poses.

These images explore the philosophical considerations of the ephemerality of dance, the bridge these photographs provide to an otherwise irretrievable past, the synchronicity between photographer and dancer and the contrast between digital and analogue imagery. 

The Merce Cunningham Dance Company in a rehearsal of Points in Space (1987) at the Sadler's Wells Theatre in London. Photographs by Derek Corbett. Used with permission from the Merce Cunningham Trust.