Moray features in dance film
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A DANCE film-maker who lived in Moray and now works and teaches all over the world will premier her latest piece here.
Katrina McPherson has made more than 30 films over the last three decades, including commissions from both the BBC and Channel Four.
Her newest features dancers in several local scenic spots, including Dava Moor, Findhorn beach and the forests around Glenferness on the Moray border where she lived for 15 years.
Katrina said: "I'm interested in taking the landscape that people see everyday and making them look at it again in a different way.
"Part of the reason why I began film-making in the first place was that I didn't want to just dance in front of a relatively small number of people.
"I've always been interested in reaching as wide an audience as possible. Films give you the chance to spread the word about what you're doing.
"The films I make are accessible and because there's no dialogue it actually makes them more universal."
Her latest film is evidence of that.
The title Paysages Mixtes is French for 'mixed landscapes' and comes from the fact that her collaborator on the project is the dancer Harold Rhéaume who's from Quebec in Canada, where some of the film was shot.
Katrina said: "Years ago if you wanted to train as a dancer you had to move to London and there were very few professional companies anywhere.
"The situation is so much better now it's like a different world.
"You can study in a number of places in Scotland and there some great companies around, such as Dance North which is based in Findhorn.
"That said, there's still not as much funding around as I would like, but you have to accept the fact that there probably never will be."
Katrina originally trained as a dancer and choreographer at Laban, London.
She is the author of the textbook Making Video Dance, and spends part of her year teaching in Limerick, Ireland, and in US state of Utah.
Paysages Mixtes is being shown at 4pm on Saturday, May 4, at the Universal Hall in Findhorn, as part of the RISE 2019 dance festival.
Organised by Dance North, the three-day festival runs from the Friday to the Sunday and features a diverse programme of contemporary dance.
This year's programme has a strong international focus, with performances by Taiwan’s Chang Dance Theatre and Montreal’s Mandoline Hybride.
Further information at www.bodysurfscotland.co.uk
Tickets at www.eventbrite.co.uk
