Qudus St Patrick: The Space Between, 2025

Set beside the River Thames, this dance floor installation invites you into a space where you can sit, sway or dance like no one (or everyone) is watching.

What is a dance floor? Is it a stage? A kitchen? A street corner? Or is it the spark between two people moving to the same beat? This installation reimagines the dance floor not as a fixed location, but as a living, breathing force where each step becomes an act of presence, defiance, and celebration.

Framed by the everyday rhythm of movement along the river and the pulse of cultural life, the Riverside Terrace becomes a floor for reflection, celebration and collective energy. A place to take up space and move with purpose – together. Here, we move differently. We dance our histories. We dance for joy. For healing. For resistance.

At the heart of the design is a soundwave-inspired canopy that casts dancing silhouettes onto the dancefloor – figures that dance with the sun by day and glow with light by night. The motifs, like dance itself, are in constant motion, inviting people to join the movement.

Through a series of creative workshops with young people, Counterpoints Arts’ Our Heartbeats DJs (RJ SudaSonic, Miss Yamete Ahh, Sharorah, Wan, DIMV, Buay) and Our HeartBeats Lead Artist Kensaye, and older adults who participate in our regular series Mix & Move, the artists have captured creative expressions that are reflected in the installation, ensuring the space speaks with many voices and many histories.