Independent Dance

Sasha Shadid leads Monday Night Improvisation next week, using playful tools, methods and ideas to help participants come back to their essence. 💫⁠
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👉️ This class is now sold out, though you can check out other Monday Night Improvisation classes happening this Autumn via the link in our bio. ⁠
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📅 Mondays, 6.30pm-8pm⁠
📍 SE1⁠ 6ER⁠
🎟️ £8 / £6 a class with a Class Card⁠ ⁠
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"My name is Sasha Mahfouz Shadid. I am a British/Palestinian, born in Portsmouth, Southsea. I am an experienced Movement artist, painter and culture worker. My greatest passions are Street-dance with a focus on Hip Hop, Krump, House Dance and traditional Palestinian dance; dance forms that I have learnt from artists and renowned dancers from around the world."

🔗 View our programme via bit.ly/IDClasses

📷️ Sasha Shadid, photo Elena Cremona.⁠
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[Image Description: [Image Description: A black and white image of Sasha from a side view, moving. His face is in focus as his left arm curves into the central frame].

📢 Upcoming Open Days for the MA/MFA Creative Practice: Dance Professional next week! 📢

These open days are opportunities to find out what the programme offers, learn about its unique modules, speak with course leaders and see if it's the right fit for you.

The MA/MFA Creative Practice: Dance Professional is led by in partnership with Independent Dance and .⁠

Virtual Open Evening (Eastern Time Zones)
📅 13 Nov, 10am -11am (GMT)
📍 Zoom, online

Virtual Open Evening (Western Time Zones)
📅 13 Nov, 6pm -7.30pm (GMT)
📍 Zoom, online

In-Person Open Day
📅 14 Nov, 2.30pm - 5.30pm (GMT)
📍 Trinity Laban, SE8 3DZ

For more information or to sign up via: https://www.trinitylaban.ac.uk/study/open-days/



[Image Description: A blue-tinted, landscape image of students sitting in a circle chatting in the brightly lit Roof Studio at Siobhan Davies Studios. There is burgundy text on a white background that reads 'Open Days for the MA/MFA Creative Practice: Dance Professional' in the top left portion of the image].

Heni Hale approaches Morning Class next week with the desire to hold spaces to listen into what’s already there and what is emerging, when we choose to be in a dancing space with others. ⁠
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📅 11 -15 November, 10am - 12pm⁠
📍 Siobhan Davies Studios, SE1⁠ 6ER⁠
🎟️ £8 / £6 a class with a Class Card⁠
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Heni Hale is an independent artist, working as a choreographer, performer, researcher and educator in diverse contexts with a collaborative focus. She is currently working with archive and embodiment as a PhD researcher on a collaborative doctoral award with Tavistock Institute of Human relations and Coventry University – Centre for Dance Research. ⁠
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🔗 Book via bit.ly/ID_MCHeni⁠
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👉️ If you booked a class but are no longer able to attend, it would be really helpful if you let us know so that we can offer the place to someone else. ⁠
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📷️ Heni Hale - NEUROLIVE, photo Tony Wadham.⁠
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[Image Description: In a dimly lit room a soft cool light shines onto the space where Heni is on the floor in a bright blue long sleeve top. She is on all fours reaching her right arm out in front. On her back in a vibrant yellow material].

Next week Patricia Okenwa leads Morning Class. Drawing from her choreographic practice of honing movement ‘qualities’ as a way to explore the direction of the process and create a space for noticing, learning and collaboration. 🌀
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📅 28 October - 1 November, 10am - 12pm⁠
📍 Siobhan Davies Studios, SE1⁠ 6ER⁠
🎟️ £8 / £6 a class with a Class Card⁠
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Patricia Okenwa (she/her) is a choreographer and dance artist and was previously a dancer with Rambert where she created Hydrargyrum 2016. She is a founding member of New Movement Collective (NMC) focused on Interdisciplinary, site or specific work.
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🔗 Book Morning Class via ⁠bit.ly/ID_MCPatricia
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👉️ If you booked a class but are no longer able to attend, it would be really helpful if you let us know so that we can offer the place to someone else. ⁠

Please note that there is no class the following week, commencing 4 November.
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📷️ Patricia Okenwa (left) and Estela Merlos (right), photo quintamakes ⁠
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[Image Description: A black and white landscape image of two dancers. On the left is Patricia Okenwa and on the right is Estela Merlos. They are in a bright studio wearing dark clothing, dancing energetically].

Next week Monday Night Improvisation is led by Fernanda Muñoz-Newsome, where you will be grounded in somatic presence, using dance, witnessing and imagination.
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📅 Monday 21 October, 6.30pm-8pm⁠
📍 Siobhan Davies Studios SE1⁠ 6ER
🎟️ £8 / £6 a class with a Class Card⁠ ⁠
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🔗 Book via bit.ly/ID_MNIFernanda
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Fernanda (she/her) is a London-based artist, choreographer and dancer of English-Chilean descent who creates immersive performances and workshops. Using dance, voice and somatic practice she explores diverse experiences of collective and embodied power.
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👉️ This class is popular and tends to sell out quickly.⁠ If you booked a class but are no longer able to attend, it would be really helpful if you let us know so that we can offer the place to someone else. ⁠
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📷️ Fernanda Munoz-Newsome, 33, photo Katarznya Perlack
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[Image Description: A rich-toned image of Fernanda in a coral and black tie-dyed top and black shorts. Her left hand is on her hip while her right arm is curved in front, palm facing in with focus downwards].

If you couldn't make it to the Artist Talk with Christopher Matthews at Elixir Festival earlier this year, don't worry! You can catch the discussion on their new work, Act 3, with choreographer Nicola Conibere. 💬

🔗 Watch the recording here: bit.ly/ID_DLArtistTalkChrisNicola

This talk discusses Christopher Matthews new work Act 3- the final instalment in a trilogy of works by Christopher Matthews. It considers q***r masculinity in dance, desire, body image and working-class dance histories. Continuing his studies of intimacy between two figures, Act 3 is an exploration of q***r desire in later life.⁠

Presented by Sadler’s Wells as part of Elixir Festival 2024, with partnership support from Independent Dance.⁠

📷 Lads, photo Christopher Matthews.



[Image description: blue and white wavy striped background. Blue text on a pink background reads Elixir Festival 2024: Artist Talk with Christopher Matthews. The second image is taken from above. Two dancers on a wooden floor, the one on the right is video the dancer laying in a curved shape on the floor on the left with a mobile phone. They both wear black tracksuits with white stripes running down the arms and legs of it].

Morning Class with Carolyn Roy next week will explore the power of gentleness, in mass and momentum; being with one another and attuning to resonance 🔊

📅 21 - 25 October, 10am - 12pm⁠
📍 Siobhan Davies Studios, SE1⁠⁠ 6ER
🎟️ £8 / £6 a class with a Class Card⁠
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Carolyn (she/her) is a London-based dancer/writer whose practice speculates on questions of what it is to be with others in this world, to be-with as dancers, the politics and pleasure of dancing.
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🔗 Book via bit.ly/ID_MCCarolyn
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👉️ If you booked a class but are no longer able to attend, it would be really helpful if you let us know so that we can offer the place to someone else. ⁠
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📷️ Carolyn Roy, How To, I think I can Help, Dialogical Art. Photo Sarah Dobai.
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[Image Description: A black and white image of Carolyn Roy sits on a low brick wall next to a white tarp tent on the left. She has a long straw wig on so her face is completely covered. Next to her, there is a sign which reads 'I think I can help']

Jevan Howard-Jones brings focus to musicality, how to tap into it, find the groove and essence of the music whilst creating the space to express freely in Monday Night Improvisation next week 🎼

📅 Monday 14 October, 6.30pm-8pm⁠
📍 Siobhan Davies Studios, SE1⁠
🎟️ £8 / £6 a class with a Class Card⁠ ⁠
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🔗 Book via the link in our bio⁠.⁠ bit.ly/ID_MNIJevan
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Jevan is a Movement Artist, Choreographer and multi-disciplinary creative who uses different mediums to explore his art. Through his contemporary training and roots in street dance – in particular House Dance and Hip Hop, has created a fusion of many styles and cultures within his work.

👉️ This class is popular and tends to sell out quickly.⁠ If you booked a class but are no longer able to attend, it would be really helpful if you let us know so that we can offer the place to someone else. ⁠
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📷️ Jevan Howard-Jones, Horizon Days, photo Karina Pinke
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[Image Description: Jevan, a man with a locs hairstyle is in a wide mid-level stance doing a bounce house style step. The orientation of this image is portrait and the tones are vivid].

Nathaniel Parchment leads Morning Class next week with Rhythms of Relating, holding 'What is Groove?' as the guide for this week of classes and as part of their research🎚️
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📅 14 - 18 October, 10am - 12pm⁠
📍 Siobhan Davies Studios , SE1⁠⁠
🎟️ £8 / £6 a class with a Class Card⁠
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Nathaniel (he/they) will explore sharing and communication using body-based imagery from practices such as experiential anatomy of play with overlapping grooves with self, music and each other.

🔗 Book via bit.ly/ID_MCNathaniel
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👉️ If you booked a class but are no longer able to attend, it would be really helpful if you let us know so that we can offer the place to someone else. ⁠
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📷️ Nathaniel Parchment. Photo, Alessandro Sigismondi.

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[Image Description: A landscape photograph of a person standing in profile. They lean back slightly, their arm furthest from the camera in the hair fingers splayed, their other arm towards the ground. They are wearing soft grey blue toned clothes, outside in a grassy landscape, sunlight illuminating the edges of their body].

Jose Funnell leads Monday Night Improvisation next week, using their experience in somatics, meditation and the q***r club space to find pleasure in movement and engage in dance as a life-affirming practice 🧘‍♂️
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📅 Monday 7 October, 6.30pm-8pm⁠
📍 Siobhan Davies Studios, SE1⁠ 6ER
🎟️ £8 / £6 a class with a Class Card⁠ ⁠
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🔗 Book via bit.ly/ID_MNIJose
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Jose is an interdisciplinary artist and dancer based in London. Through live performance, sound, film and the workshop space, they explore the radical potential of embodiment as a site of liberation, healing and exchange in service of collective transformation.
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👉️ This class is popular and tends to sell out quickly.⁠ If you booked a class but are no longer able to attend, it would be really helpful if you let us know so that we can offer the place to someone else. ⁠
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📷️ Jose Funnell workshop at QUEERCIRCLE, photo Lydia Thomas
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[Image Description: This landscape image shows five dancers lying on the floor on their front, resting their heads on their arms. They are in comfortable clothing and a warm light on in the background of the space glowing].

Morning Class with James Olivo next week offers the opportunity to explore personal movement through improvisation, exchange paired with his own mix of contemporary and hip-hop approaches and music 🎵

📅 7 - 11 October, 10am - 12pm⁠
📍 Siobhan Davies Studios, SE1⁠ 6ER
🎟️ £8 / £6 a class with a Class Card⁠
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James was in the National Youth Dance Company from 2012-14, and graduated from Northern School of Contemporary Dance in 2017. As a freelance dance artist, and lecturer at London School of Contemporary Dance, he has experience teaching workshops in Europe, working commercially with international artists and events and in contemporary theatre work.

James focuses significantly on exploring and developing his own style of movement and expression, finding inspiration in mixing elements from contemporary companies such as Peeping Tom (Brussels), and hip hop battle scenes, cultures and communities from around the world.

🔗 Book via bit.ly/ID_MCJames

👉️ If you booked a class but are no longer able to attend, it would be really helpful if you let us know so that we can offer the place to someone else. ⁠
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📷️ James Olivo, A tribute to Olafur, photo Matteo Sabouraud.
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[Image Description: This black and white landscape image is set in the middle of a road intersection. James is in focus over the shoulder of a viewer, standing on a zebra crossing mid-suspended lean to the right].

Next week Monday Night Improvisation is led by Jay Yule, who will blend elements of clowning, voice and live composition to create dances, stories and games. ⁠🎉⁠

Jay's practice is existential in nature and draws from the experience of being q***r and non-binary. Jay tries to foster inclusivity into the way they create, making art which can be viewed by anyone with the hope of imparting a sense of activism from watching.⁠
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👉️ This class is now sold out, though you can check out other Monday Night Improvisation classes happening this Autumn via our website: https://bit.ly/IDClasses

📅 Mondays, 6.30pm-8pm⁠
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🎟️ £8 / £6 a class with a Class Card⁠ ⁠
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👉️ This class is popular and tends to sell out quickly.⁠ If you booked a class but are no longer able to attend, it would be really helpful if you let us know so that we can offer the place to someone else. ⁠
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📷️ Jay Yule, Chewy She Moth Popera at Glastonbury Festival 2023, photo by Callum Thompson⁠
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[Image Description: White non-binary AFAB person, Jay is dressed as a clown in black catsuit, yellow rough and pointy pink clown hat with clown make up, carrying a microphone with colourful spacey set behind.]

Allow yourself to be guided through an assemblage of focuses and instructions to create web of elements, forces and directions within and without the body in Morning Class with Lewys Holt 🕸️

📅 30 September - 4 October, 10am - 12pm⁠
📍 Siobhan Davies Studios, SE1⁠ 6ER
🎟️ £8 / £6 a class with a Class Card⁠
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Lewys' practice, while focusing on dance, spans comedy and devised theatre. They make work that centres the performer as an empowered individual, showcasing their personality and vulnerabilities.

🔗 Book via bit.ly/ID_MCLewys

👉️ If you booked a class but are no longer able to attend, it would be really helpful if you let us know so that we can offer the place to someone else. ⁠
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📷️ Lewys Holt, photo Jorden Brooks.
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[Image Description: This photograph finds Lewys centre in a side bend, arms up in the air to the right and hips to the left with a slight bend in the knees. They are wearing white trousers with a black belt threaded through the loops and a black long sleeve top with a skeletons ribcage on it].

Hugh Stanier kicks off our autumn programme next week with Morning Class, inviting you to explore the felt sense of the body, move with softness, fluidity, efficiency and joy ⁠🌀

📅 23 - 27 September, 10am - 12pm⁠
📍 Siobhan Davies Studios, SE1⁠
🎟️ £8 / £6 a class with a Class Card⁠
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With a background in breakdance and contact improvisation, Hugh (he/him) draws from somatic practices, floor-work and breakdance techniques, and working with a combination of choreographed exercises and improvisation to create space for the body to deepen its own innate intelligence. Helping with expanding creative enjoyment of moving and also with building strength, stamina and resilience.

🔗 Book via bit.ly/ID_MCHugh

👉️ If you booked a class but are no longer able to attend, it would be really helpful if you let us know so that we can offer the place to someone else. ⁠
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📷️ Hugh Stanier, photo Rune Abro.
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[Image Description: A landscape image of five dancers, one of which is Hugh, moving in a brightly sunlit space. They are in contact, arms reaching and bodies leaning].

We hope you are having a lovely summer! 🌞⁠

We wanted to let you know about our e-flyer ahead of our Autumn programme starting back on 23 September. ⁠

Our e-flyer is an opportunity to connect with ID outside of social media, to hear more about upcoming programming and receive highlighted resources and opportunities with a focus on artist development, learning and research.

👉️ The first half the Autumn class programme opens for booking on 11 September

👉️ The second phase of booking for Well-being and Resilience in Challenging Times with Charlie Brittain and Kirstie Simson opens on 4 September at 2pm
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⁠📫️ To receive our e-flyer twice a month sign up here: https://bit.ly/2IDmail
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📷 Park Fête, 2021. Photo Anne Tetzlaff⁠.

[Image Description: In an orchard and surrounded by trees, a groupof around 20 people in vibrant coloured clothing are talking and eating. Some people are seated on the grass, some are standing. The group are in partial shade and partial evening sunlight.]

Kirstie Simson and Charlie Brittain will be leading Well-being and Resilience in Challenging Times, a two day workshop this October 👈️⁠

📅 19-20 October, 1-6pm⁠
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🎟️ £130 standard / £110 low-income⁠
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👉️ We are releasing the tickets in two phases, 7 Aug and 4 Sept. This is to offer more advance notice and planning time for participants. ⁠

In the second of two posts featuring the artists:
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Kirstie Simson (UK) has been a continuous explosion in the contemporary dance scene, bringing audiences into contact with the vitality of pure creation in moment after moment of virtuoso improvisation. Called "a force of nature" by the New York Times, she is an award-winning dancer and teacher who has "immeasurably enriched and expanded the boundaries of New Dance" according to Time Out Magazine, London. Kirstie is renowned today as an excellent teacher, a captivating performer and a leading light in the field of Dance Improvisation. She recently retired after thirteen years working as a professor of dance at the University of Illinois. She currently resides in Wales and continues to teach and perform in the UK & internationally.⁠
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Open to dancers, artists, movement and health practitioners of all experience levels, Well-being and Resilience in Challenging Times explores healthy approaches toward dancing and living you can integrate into your own practice. ⁠
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🔗 To find out more about this workshop head to ID's website: bit.ly/CBKSWellbeingResilience⁠
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📷 Kirstie Simson, photo Harry Jordan⁠
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This Autumn Charlie Brittain and Kirstie Simson lead Well-being and Resilience in Challenging Times, a two day workshop that explores healthy approaches toward dancing and living that can be integrated into your own practice 🍂

👉️ The first half of tickets have now sold out, though the second half of tickets will be released on 4 September.

Charlie Brittain (UK) is a dancer, teacher, choreographer and rehearsal director whose passion lies in empowering others to take ownership of their practice and champion their values through dancing. He continues to perform internationally with dance companies, independent projects and in collaboration with other artists alongside his choreographic work, which looks to the processes and innate wisdom of the body as a vehicle for learning and a means to extrapolate compositional methods. Charlie is a sought-after rehearsal director and choreographic facilitator working across a range of artistic environments and ventures as well as a passionate teacher, regularly invited to lead classes and workshops for dance companies, educational institutes and festivals worldwide. He integrates his art with his practice as a bodyworker, sports rehabilitator, musculoskeletal health specialist and integrative health practitioner, specialising in the treatment, rehabilitation and education of dancers and movement practitioners as well as lecturing and examining on higher education programs in the UK and Europe.

This workshop is open to dancers, artists, movement and health practitioners of all experience levels.

📅 19-20 October, 1-6pm
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🎟️ £130 standard / £110 low-income

🔗 To find out more about this workshop head to ID's website: bit.ly/CBKSWellbeingResilience
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📷 Charlie Brittain, photo Rudy Carlier ⁠
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Resilience

[Image Description: A landscape image where Charlie Brittain stands with hands on chest, in a warm-toned studio space. He is with others, though the image focuses on him.]