Matthew Brookes' 'Expression of Freedom' Captures a Decade of Dance Across Continents

British photographer Matthew Brookes, known for Hollywood portraits, spent ten years documenting dance across four continents. His book 'Expression of Freedom: Through the World of Dance,' published by Damiani Books with a preface by Sir Ben Okri, brings together images from classical institutions like the Opéra de Paris and the Royal Ballet with street dance in New York, São Paulo, and Johannesburg. Brookes uses a consistent visual language to remove hierarchy between codified gesture and vernacular movement, placing dancers in urban spaces rather than traditional stages. The project treats dance as a social, spatial, and political practice, exploring visibility, authorship, and how different cultures inhabit movement. The images deliberately leave tensions open, functioning as questions rather than answers.