Desire Lines Dance Theatre
Sometimes I hate going for walks in nice places that look nice
Performed and choreographed by Orla Collier
Music by Lee Affen
Audio interview conducted and edited by Jack Ballinger
Comissioned and supported by The Knotted Project
Length: 15 minutes
"Life is not a competition with others. In its truest sense it is a rivalry with ourselves. We should each day seek to break the record of our yesterday. We should seek each day to live stronger, better, truer lives; each day to master some weakness of yesterday; each day to repair past follies; each day to surpass... ourselves. And this is but progress."
- William George Jordan
Sometimes I hate going for walks in nice places is a solo dance theatre piece that explores everyday pressures building to complete and utter overwhelm.
The structure is simple: in the space there is a pile of clothes, and a performer getting ready for their big performance. When the technician gives them the go, the performer puts on an outfit from the pile of clothes, steps forward into position, and dances their heart out in a short sequence, ending with a dramatic look to the audience.
Pleased with their performance, they go back to the pile and add on another outfit. They perform again. They go back to the pile, add on another outfit, and go to perform, but this time they hesitate. Maybe more clothes would be better? They rush back to the pile adding more and more until they’re satisfied, and then perform again...
Commissioned by The Knotted Project as an outdoor site-specific work for Forge Festival 25 at Windermere Jetty Museum. TKP Early Career Artist project also included a rural tour to Fullofnoises in Barrow, Skipton Town Hall, and Rosehill Theatre in Whitehaven where the piece was reworked for indoor and theatre settings.
The piece was reworked for younger audiences for Haphazard 25 at Z-Arts in Manchester, and performed at No Dress Code at Yorkshire Dance in Leeds, and Social Experiment at Contact Theatre in Manchester.
The music created by Lee Affen includes fragments of Orla Collier being interviewed; conducted and edited by Jack Ballinger. See below for an extract.
Above images by Owen Peters Photography