Last One Standing
In collaborative project, Last One Standing, Melissa Schriek and stylist Grace Joel explore the concept of dance marathons. In several acts, Melissa’s imagery captures the voyeurism, energy and exhaustion of the marathon, a concept popularised in the USA during the 1920s and 1930s.
Dance marathons offered both a form of entertainment, and a survival strategy - offering large cash prizes to the last pair standing and attracting contestants looking for a route to economic stability and a better life.
Dancers could often be seeing dozing off against their partners, as they held them up to stop their knees from hitting the ground (which would result in instant disqualification).
