El ensayo

El Ensayo (the rehearsal) was taken during the Romerias de Mayo festival in Holguin Cuba. The troupe were preparing for a performance of Afro-Cuban dance and were using an abandoned colonial era building as a studio. I sat with the band most of the afternoon sharing a bottle of rum and waiting for a perfect moment.

As the sun set and light streamed through a doorway there she was. Proud and erect, of a mixed hertiage, owning the space. I raised my range finder medium format camera, adjusted the focus and with a barely perceptible click took a photo of strength and dignity.

James Sparshatt’s photographs of music and dance capture the emotion and intensity of people lost in the rhythm of the moment.