As Sasha Grishin describes the series: 'Throughout the series, the constant recurring motif is that of the fully-clad male dancer, usually shown in an evening suit and occasionally appearing slightly awkward and uncertain of himself, accompanied by a nude, or an almost-nude female dancer. On one very basic level there is the aspect of voyeuristic erotic wish-fulfillment, drawing on the surrealist strategy of undressing the woman with the male gaze that had been so effectively employed by Renne Magrite. Shead’s female dancers are of great sensuous beauty and lyrical charm. There is a hint of a more metaphysical dimension of this dance, relating it to the dance of life as interpreted by artists like Edvard Munch. The Dance is performed on an allegorical stage like the arena of life, sometimes with an awareness of an audience and sometimes under the harsh glow of the spotlights. In most of the ‘Dance Sequence’ paintings there is an indication of an open door in the background, at times shown as the source of light, but in all instances the doorway is a path for escape. Shead achieves in this series of paintings a great lyricism in the paint surface, a warm sensuousness through which the female flesh glows in a rich radiance. Increasingly these intimate interior settings allude to ambiguous and seductive dream-like reality where ideas and interpretations float free from gravity and verbal associations.'

Reference: Grishin S, Garry Shead and The Erotic Muse, Craftsman House, 2001 p.166