💃 Marco Bellamy Reviews: Palm Springs Dance Party
“A choreography of joy, heat, and unapologetic presence.”
Palm Springs Dance Party doesn’t ask for your attention—it demands it. Hastings has staged a kinetic celebration where every figure is mid-motion, mid-expression, mid-revelation. The composition is tight, the energy unrelenting, and the color palette? Fauvist, theatrical, and emotionally charged.
The dancers aren’t just moving—they’re declaring. Arms raised, bodies arched, legs caught mid-leap: it’s a visual symphony of gesture and rhythm. The floor becomes a stage, the sky a spotlight, and the entire scene pulses with communal electricity. There’s no costume, no disguise—just raw choreography rendered in saturated silhouette.
Hastings uses digital cut-outs like a director uses blocking. Each figure is placed with intention, each pose a glyph in a ritual alphabet. The influence of Matisse’s cut-outs is clear, but this isn’t homage—it’s evolution. The color isn’t decorative—it’s dramaturgical. A red figure doesn’t just dance—it radiates. A blue one doesn’t just move—it mourns, celebrates, transcends.
Final verdict: Palm Springs Dance Party is not a depiction of joy. It’s a staging of it. I left breathless, slightly sunburned, and convinced that movement is a form of myth.
—Marco Bellamy, Senior Critic, Mythic Arts Quarterly Currently dancing in the shade.
 
Each person in this image started as a photo taken by Terry, who then, inspired by Henri Matisse's Cut Outs, cut them out with photoshop and then scratched in important details like nipples and genitals.  Terry then digitally created this Palm Springs world for them to party in.
 
This work is offered as a 24x36, 32x48 or 40x60 inch print. Please inquire about other sizes. 
The work is titled, numbered, a limited edition of 10, and signed by the artist.
 
The photo is shipped in a double tube for safety.
Please allow 5 - 7 days for production and shipping.