Ballroom Dancing, Blackpool
- Artist: Chris Steele-Perkins
- Date: 1980–9
- Medium: Photograph, dye destruction on paper
- Dimensions: image: 382 x 255 mm
- Museum: Tate Britain
- Collection record: Tate Britain website
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About this artwork
This is “Ballroom Dancing Blackpool” by Chris Steele‑Perkins. It was taken in 1980 and is one of the forty‑four colour cibachrome photographs that make up *The Pleasure Principle*, a document of leisure in Britain during the decade. In this image the camera captures a lively ballroom dance hall in Blackpool, with dancers mid‑step against a backdrop of bright lights and patterned tiles.
Steele‑Perkins used the vivid colour of cibachrome film to bring out the energy of the scene, then applied dye destruction on paper to give the print an almost painterly depth. The result feels both candid and staged – the photograph shows public rituals through which people display identity and shared happiness.
The artist said he was “re‑orientating himself” when returning from abroad; in this work you can see how he turns to everyday British activities, like dancing, as a way of understanding society. It offers a snapshot of class, culture, and the pursuit of pleasure that defined Britain in the 1980s.
See it in person
Ballroom Dancing, Blackpool is in the collection of Tate Britain on Millbank, London — free to enter. Point your phone at any artwork there and audioguide.london plays a free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
