Will You Dance with Me?

Derek Jarmans Will You Dance with Me? is an essential document of LGBTQ London that was unseen until 2014, 30 years after it was originally shot. In September 1984, Jarman was invited by director Ron Peck and writer Mark Ayres to record improvisations at Benjys, a gay club in East Londons Mile End district, as part of the early experimental work for their feature film Empire State, a neo-noir that would be released in 1987. The coed, racially diverse crowd of roughly 100 people at Benjiys that night included club regulars, bar staff, and potential players in Empire State. Every single detail captured in Jarmans on-location assignment abounds with era-specific riches: from the New Romantic cutie journaling while nestled in a corner booth to the DJs cheerful exhortations and the songs he spins (Let the Music Play, Planet Rock, Relax”).