Doing the Dance at The Dance with Morgan Cohen
Photo by, Morgan Cohen
The Dance
Although we lost The Dance this past February memories were made at NYC’s The Dance that will last us a lifetime. Located in NOHO The Dance was a concert venue with style, vision, and a whole lot of charm. In our latest interview, we reflect on the impact the venue had on the music community in NYC with photographer Morgan Cohen.
Interior of Elsewhere by, Luis Morgan Cohen
Describe The Dance to us in your own words.
I remember the first time I went to The Dance. It was the Wavves show the night before New Year’s Eve in 2019. I was continuing my journey to reach an average of a concert a week that year, which was proving to be challenging due to my full-time non-music job. That show marked my 51st concert that year.
When I stepped into The Dance for the first time, I was in awe. My friend and I decided to get to the venue early for the show since we’ve always been “front row or die” types of people. So when we got there the venue was close to empty and we got to take in the atmosphere without a crowd. Immediately, I was mad that I hadn’t gone to a show there earlier than December. The design and aesthetic of the venue was unique when I compared it to other venues of similar sizes. The first thing I noticed was how “clean” it looked. The walls, stage, and equipment were all white, different from other venues since most choose darker color schemes. The lights illuminated a pink hue in the entire room. The trademark spiral staircase located on the right of the stage acted as the artists’ backstage, leading up to their dressing rooms. It immediately stood out to me as an object that would be cool to have in performance shots. My photographer's brain compelled me to snap a shot of the empty room before the other attendees arrived.
While the venue was stunning when it was empty, nothing compares to the energy The Dance possessed at full capacity. I’ve seen moshing, stage diving, and (of course) dancing during shows and in between sets! My biggest regret is that I wasn’t able to attend many shows there before it was permanently shut down. Some may wonder why I chose a venue that is no longer with us (RIP), but I believe The Dance was something that Manhattan was missing and I hope in the future someone decides to take on a similar project!
What was the best interaction you had with another patron at The Dance?
While it is hard for me to pinpoint one particular interaction, my favorite types of interactions included snapping photos of my friends as they enjoyed shows there! Besides capturing images of artists performing, I loved trying to capture the people in the crowd as they had the time of their lives. Being that the room was well lit it was more possible there (albeit most of my photos of the crowd came out blurry since I was moving around so much)! The Dance always had such good energy; I loved being able to capture that energy in my photos!
Who are your favorite photographers active in NYC right now?
There are so many incredible photographers in NYC - I wish I could name them all! There have been many NYC music photographers whose work has influenced my personal shooting and editing style.
I’ve always been so inspired by Maggie Friedman’s (@maggielndnphoto) work. Her edits’ tones, style, and crispness are always stunning to me. I think I’ve attempted to edit in a similar way as I’ve grown as a music photographer, which I started up more seriously at the end of 2018.
Absolutely love Will Oliver’s work too (@weallwantsomeone). I met Will at the Arctic Monkey’s show at Forest Hills Stadium in 2018 and then again at Alexandra Savior’s show in 2020. Arctic Monkey’s have been one of my favorite bands for a long time and his shots from their performance were absolutely breathtaking along with the rest of his work!
Jess Williams (@jesswilliamsphoto) is also an incredible photographer who has influenced my style too! Similar to Maggie, their photo’s tones and unique edits have stood out to me! Their Cage the Elephant and Saint Motel shots were stunning and being that I attended both of those shows it felt like I was back at the venues reliving those nights!
What are you looking for when photographing a band?
I still play around with my photography style a decent amount since I’m relatively new to the scene! I love getting full body shots of artists, especially when they’re moving and jumping around the stage. I love capturing little interactions between band members as they play because that creates more unique captures than band members separately performing. I think group shots reveal more about the relationships between band members and I love seeing when band members are close with each other.
As most photographers would probably say, good lighting is always incredibly important to me. When I shoot shows at larger venues, I have mostly used my phone. Until recently, I hadn’t worked for a publication (shout out to @buzzkillmag !) and it can be difficult to obtain a press pass when you freelance, which is why I resorted to “iPhoneography”. Good lighting is much appreciated with that since I can’t shoot RAW images on my phone so making adjustments can be a bit more difficult with tricky lighting!
What is the loudest show you have ever seen at The Dance?
Definitely Wavves. Being that it wasn’t my first time seeing them live, I knew that their shows were generally wild to begin with. The energy was especially high that night since it was so close to New Year’s Eve. I remember standing at the front of the crowd, being rammed into the stage by the mosh pit for the majority of their set. The stage is low so I was using my knees to prevent myself from being pushed onto the stage (as well as spilling the drinks sitting on the stage’s edge). My legs were not happy the next day when I queued for The Strokes’ NYE show!
If you could make one change to The Dance what would it be?
Of course I would want the change to be that The Dance was still open. I hope someone in the future decides to bring the project back to life, when live shows are possible again.
What is it like taking photos at The Dance?
One thing I love about photographing at The Dance is how unique music photography comes out when comparing that of other venues. Being that The Dance’s stage is completely white, the images captured came out brighter and very colorful, depending on whatever color the stage lights were glowing at the given moment. The camera I’m most comfortable shooting shows is my Fuji XT-1, and being that it’s a first-generation mirrorless camera - the sensor is pretty slow. Having an overall bright venue allowed my camera to work a lot better than darker lit shows. The spiral staircase is also absolutely stunning as a backdrop for the artists I saw perform there. I like trying to make my photos have unique features in them so having that cool architectural detail in the background helped me achieve this!
Would you bring your parents to The Dance? Why or why not?
My parents aren’t really concert people nor city people so probably not! I definitely branched away from my family in terms of my interest in live music photography!
Any final comments about The Dance?
I greatly appreciated the significant impact The Dance had on Manhattan nightlife in its short lifespan! Once live music is back, I hope that a new project arises that reignites the music scene and nightlife in the borough!