Footsteps marking Time (2016)
The Project
In 2014, Matilda walked the furthest she had ever walked in one go - Three weeks walking the Cape Wrath Trail - her own route, 230 miles across the Scottish Highlands, camping and bothying.
At the very same time, for three weeks, Choreographer, Joan Cleville danced and moved non-stop in a studio in the remote peninsula of Scoraig.
“I wanted to experience what the rhythm of walking would feel like, emotionally and physically, after days upon days of walking through Scotland’s wilderness on my own. It was important to me to carry my pack with everything I needed each day too. I was seeking adventure and solitude.”
Both journeys happened simultaneously during three weeks in Spring 2014.
After the walk, Matilda and Joan shared their findings and stories – their trials and tribulations, the people they met, the trees, the birds, the solitude. Together they worked in various locations across Scotland – Dundee, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Loch Tay- in a series of residencies organised with the support of Citymoves, Scottish School of Contemporary Dance, Scottish Dance Theatre and Forestry Commission Scotland.
The final performance took place at The Macphail Centre in Ullapool that November, a town in the middle point of the Cape Wrath Trail, featuring live music by Matilda’s group of musicians she works with regularly and visuals by Edinburgh-based artist Ger O’Brien.
An exciting and beautiful production that captures and unites the physical and emotional journey of one woman’s solo walk 238 miles across the highlands with one man’s journey of dance in a studio in Scoraig.
Footsteps Marking Time is the result of a year-long collaboration between choreographer Joan Clevillé and Glasgow-based composer Matilda Brown.
The work is inspired by two parallel endurance experiences: Matilda’s solo walk of the Cape Wrath Trail (238 miles across the Scottish Highlands), and Joan’s voluntary ‘confinement’ in a studio in the remote peninsula of Scoraig. Both journeys happened simultaneously during three weeks in spring 2014.
After the walk, Matilda and Joan shared their findings and stories – their trials and tribulations, the people they met, the trees, the birds, the solitude. Together they worked in various locations across Scotland – Dundee, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Loch Tay- in a series of residencies organised with the support of Citymoves, Scottish School of Contemporary Dance, Scottish Dance Theatre and Forestry Commission Scotland.
Matilda Brown Ensemble
Composer, Matilda Brown
Graeme Stephen, Jazz Guitar
Ruth Rowlands, Cello
Matilda Brown, Vocals, Guitar and Samples
Photography, Nick Rawle
Slideshow, Matilda Brown with Gerry O’Brien
Alongside Autumn
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Other Walks
Winter in Knoydart
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Spring Torridon to
Shenvall Bothy
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