While the Apocalypse – Blog

Dean Chalkley celebrates the energy, ecstasy and emotion of a young Northern Soul dancer, and the subculture that lives on through the music

Through the blistering pace and joyous release of dancing to Northern Soul, director and photographer Dean Chalkley cast a modern lens on the British movement and the cathartic nature of the music for short film Good for the Soul. 

Over 50 years since the first Northern Soul all-nighter at Wigan Casino – the legendary nightclub at the scene’s center in the 1970s – dancer Durassie Kiangangu captures the energy that solidified its community. Decades later, the subculture lives on, expanding into crate-digger culture and a watertight community as younger generations find their way into the scene. Meeting Kiangangu after completing his 2011 film ‘Young Souls’, and collaborating on a series of photographic works, Chalkley developed the project to commit his high-powered dancing to film, originally screened at the 2023 anniversary exhibition ’50 Years On The Soul Stays Strong’ in Wigan.

Set to ‘True True Love’, a very rare soul recording by Tobi Lark, Good for the Soul taps into the emotional ecstasy that carries the Northern Soul scene, then and now. Illustrating the lasting influence of an isolated scene that developed from the Mods and a taste for soul rarities, Good for the Soul celebrates Northern Soul through the power of its music, and the energetic dance that keeps it moving.   

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