OPENING: DRESS REHEARSAL

Cleo the Project Space is pleased to present Dress Rehearsal a collection of photographs by Anna Ottum centered around the nostalgia of youth and the aspirations of young dancers.

Through this new body of work Ottum explores our sense of self against the backdrop of performative imagery. With moments that target both the dancers’ stage presence and time at home, the dueling melodrama of both self assured movement and insecurity is contextualized throughout every aspect of life. These moments include dressing up, with hair and makeup that mark some desire for maturity, as well as signal play with identity on the cusp of adolescence and adulthood. The girls’ movements and postures on the stage and off demonstrate a discovery of both confidence and fragility.

The focus on sisters in this project reveals moments of tenderness alongside competition. There is just as much access to their affections as there is to…