Portraits (formerly Lockdown Portraits) brings together seven solo dances choreographed over Zoom during lockdown by Sir Robert Cohan. Set to music by Nils Frahm and Ólafur Arnalds, these intimate choreographed conversations tell personal yet universal stories of isolation, grief and survival with Cohan harnessing the power of dance to express the triumph of the human spirit.

These solos form part of Cohan’s final work for the stage, Afternoon Conversations with Dancers. As live performances continued to be delayed by the pandemic, YDP collaborated with Cohan and director David Stewart to create this series of seven films. The various locations—from the empty West Wittering beach in Sussex to an abandoned London chapel to the bare stage of Royal Opera House—create a travelogue of the pandemic’s desolate places.

Choreographer: Robert Cohan
Performers: Edd Mitton, Freya Jeffs, Dane Hurst, Jonathan Goddard, Yolande Yorke-Edgell, Laurel Dalley Smith, Romany Pajdak
Music: Nils Frahm, Ólafur Arnalds