Desire Lines Dance Theatre
About
Desire Lines Dance Theatre was founded in 2026 but has been producing work under 'Orla Collier' since 2021. They have produced three solo works: ‘Are you Local?’ (previously titled 'Endormore'), a physical theatre piece commissioned by Great Place: Lakes & Dales and The Dukes Theatre; ‘Sometimes I hate going for walks in nice places that look nice’, an outdoor dance theatre work commissioned by The Knotted Project; and an untitled improvised solo including dance and spoken word for '5OLOS' and 'Gutter Sprung' dance events.
As part of 'Are you Local?' project, they have collaborated with Musician Rory Lee AKA Molagon to create an original soundscore for the piece, and with Filmmaker Jack Harper to create a short film 'Endormore' based on the piece, which was exhibited at Brewery Arts in Kendal as part of the Nurturing Creativity X Folded Zine exhibition. They have also recently worked with Filmmaker Jack Ballinger to create a film of the full work and a short documentary.
They have co-created two duets, ‘You’re Here (Hooray!)’ with Magdalena Górnikiewicz, commissioned by Word of Warning for Haphazard 2023, and ‘Twenty-First Century Love’ with Nigel Stewart of Sap Dance, commissioned by Ludus Dance.
Upcoming project: 'Unconstrued Bodies' (working title), an intergenerational dance duet with Nigel Stewart of Sap Dance. Informed by life drawing and modelling, this work will offer alternative ways of paying attention to naked bodies.
Lead Artist
Orla Collier is a dance artist, physical theatre practitioner, and life model from Cumbria and based in Leeds.
"I perform and create to feel something, express it, and share this with others. I'm endlessly inspired by the capacity that dance and theatre has for emotional expression and how it allows me to explore personal experiences in honest and absurd ways."
She trained at Rambert School in London, gaining a first-class degree in Ballet and Contemporary Dance, Kate Simmons Dance in Warrington, where she trained in a range of styles and completed a level 4 Diploma in Dance Education, and Northern School of Contemporary Dance in Leeds where she completed a MA in Contemporary Dance Performance with distinction as part of the post-graduate company Verve. During her training, she worked with choreographers such as Botis Seva, Christopher Bruce, Arielle Smith, Caroline Finn, and Matthew Bourne as part of his production of ‘Romeo and Juliet’.
Photo by Josh Hawkins
Since graduating in 2021, Orla has performed in a variety of productions, including Displace Yourself Theatre’s ‘A World Without Death’, involving theatre, dance, and aerial hoop; Wiebke Acton’s ‘Phobia’, a physical theatre work; site specific dance works for Daisy May Kemp and Joshua Bilton; Interplay Theatre’s ‘My Life with the Wave’, a sensory dance theatre work; and ‘Looking Back, Moving Forward’ an intergenerational dance piece for Ludus Dance's 50th Anniversary. She has also done R&D for Kennedy Muntanga Dance Theatre's 'Napalm' and Jack Philp Dance's 'Into The Novacene'.
Orla also began life and portrait modelling in 2021. She has since worked with a number of artists and life drawing groups across the Northwest and West Yorkshire, including 1:1 projects with local artists and special movement-focused sessions modelling with Nigel Stewart.
Collaborators
Nigel Stewart
Dance Artist
Nigel is a freelance dance artist and Emeritus Senior Lecturer at Lancaster University, and the Artistic Director of Sap Dance. He has choreographed and performed in the UK, the US, and continental Europe since 1982.
Website: https://research.lancaster-university.uk/en/persons/nigel-stewart/
Molagon
Musician
Molagon started as a solo project by Rory Lee, releasing his debut beat tape 'Blissed Out' in 2018. It was re-released later that year with record label College Music. Molagon isn't just a musical project though. Rory works as an illustrator, designing his own logos and album covers.
Jack Harper
Filmmaker
Jack Harper is a queer filmmaker from the North of England and based in London, creating immersive, experimental films that blur fiction and reality to explore love, identity and human connection. He has received awards from The UK Film Festival and other film festivals including RTS Awards for his student films. Graduate film showcased at BFI SOUTHBANK and multiple awards sponsored by CANON for future projects.
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jackharperfilm/
Magdalena Górnikiewicz
Dance Artist
Magdalena Górnikiewicz is a dancer and choreographer living in Brussels and Krakow, focusing on dance theatre, improvisation and visual arts. She currently works internationally as a freelancer and is part of the EC collective in Brussels.
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gornik.iewicz/
Jack Ballinger
Filmmaker
Jack Ballinger is a documentary filmmaker from Bournemouth and based in Leeds. He is a BA Film graduate and completed a MA in Political Communication. Combining his understanding of storytelling and knowledge of communication theory, he creates effective and influential content for a range of organisations, including Community Mental Health Transformation and Forum Central & Leeds and York NHS Trust, and has received awards at the Patient Engagement Awards.
Email: jackballinger99@gmail.com