From Nacio Jan Brown’s notes on this photo: “Sometimes in warm weather there would be spontaneous dancing in the street. Here the people have joined hands, and are dancing in a circle. The sharp smiling face in the background is obviously luck, but I made my luck by shooting a lot of film. The film in this case was Kodak’s extremely fast 2475. After shooting several rolls, I decided I didn’t like it because it was too grainy. In night lighting, where you lose detail in the shadows anyway because of the nature of the light, I prefer Tri-X because I would rather have finer grain than a little extra gradation.” (Rag Theater, p. 68)
The Berkeley Revolution
A digital archive of the East Bay's transformation in the late-1960s & 1970s
A Dancing Circle at Night
Date: c. 1970
Citation:
Nacio Jan Brown, Rag Theater: The 2400 Block of Telegraph Avenue, 1969-1973 (Berkeley: Great Star Press, 1975), 17.
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1. Photographer of Social Protest
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Sunrise at the Oakland Army Induction Center
–10/1967–One of Nacio Jan Brown's favorite photographs: capturing a tense moment in an antiwar protest
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James Rector, Wounded on the Roof of Granma Books
–5/15/1969–During a protest over People's Park, police shot indiscriminately at Telegraph Avenue rooftops
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Helicopter Drops Tear Gas on Sproul Plaza
–5/20/1969–A helicopter spraying tear gas on demonstrators on the Cal campus
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Pigs Get Press, Press Press Back
–5/30/1969–The photographer Nacio Jan Brown found himself at the center of the story
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Huey Newton Released from Prison
–8/5/1970–When Huey Newton's manslaughter conviction was reversed, supporters held a rally upon his release
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A Rooftop View
–c. 1973–In the aftermath of a Telegraph Ave protest, the crowd disperses
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Nacio Jan Brown at Berkeley’s Journalism School
–9/2012–The photographer speaks about his career and Rag Theater
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2. The World of Rag Theater
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The Street Scene Outside Rag Theatre
–c. 1970–The motion and life of Telegraph Avenue, in a photograph jammed with contrasts
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Three Young Men on the Corner
–c. 1970–A popular place to wile away the hours: on the sidewalk facing Moe's Books
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A Scene of Grooming
–c. 1970–A young woman tends to the hair of a young man
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A Dancing Circle at Night
–c. 1970–A magical moment on Telegraph, captured serendipitously by photographer Nacio Jan Brown
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Two Kids Cruising Down Telegraph on Bicycle
–c. 1970–Two ways of living on the Ave -- on the move, and planted in place
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On the Avenue
–c. 1970–The Telegraph Avenue scene in black and white
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Street Vendors on Telegraph
–c. 1970–In a photo, a window onto the handicrafts revolution
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The View from the Street
–c. 1970–From Nacio Jan Brown, a dog's eye view of Telegraph
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Street Scene Across from Moe’s Books
–c. 1971–An image that asks the eye to roam over it
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Three Card Molly on Telegraph Ave
–c. 1971–In a card game, street hustle and performance art
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An Arm with a Grim Reaper Tattoo
–c. 1971–Death, taking a hit
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A Troubling Smile
–c. 1971–An older man lifting up a woman's shirt, in a jumbled-up moment on the Ave
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3. The Faces of Rag Theater
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Girl with Egg
–c. 1969–The portrait that helped 'Rag Theater' click into place
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A Pair on the Stage of “Rag Theater”
–c. 1970–Flanked by a middle finger and question marks
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Young Man with Drawing on Glasses
–c. 1970–In an altered pair of eyeglasses, a skewed sense of humor
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Martha Krech at Caffé Mediterraneum
–c. 1970–Rachel's mother at Telegraph's most popular hangout
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Rachel Krech with Her Dog on the Avenue
–c. 1971–A beguiling photograph of childhood play on Telegraph
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Three Friends Outside Rag Theatre
–c. 1971–An abbreviated moment of dress-up and dreaming
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Posing in Dress
–c. 1971–Dressing up for—and beyond—the street's 'rag theater'
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Young Woman with Dog
–c. 1971–On the street, with a dog nestling at her feet
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Girl Rolling Joint
–c. 1971–A moment in the churn of Telegraph Avenue life
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A Moment Stolen from Reading Together
–c. 1971–Looking up from an underground comic
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Woman Under an Awning
–c. 1971–A haunting look, caught in shadow
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Portrait of Kathy Delacour
–c. 1973–"People were just drawn to her"
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