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Kathryn Gordon: A Journey of Flight

 
Stephanie Green Review by Stephanie Green 3 Published: 18 Aug 2025 Assembly @ Dance Base Show Dates: 12 Aug 2025-17 Aug 2025

Sensitive and evocative, A Journey of Flight, created in Shetland, is about the migration of birds. Choreographed by Kathryn Gordon and danced by herself and Jorja Follina, it is full of birdsong, images of birds, wings and shadows, with flickering light suggesting wings.

Allows the audience to imagine the vast distances birds traverse.

Animated film by Alison Piper of seabirds is projected on the walls and on white sheets hanging from washing lines. The material is underlay for wind turbines – a hint that blades and birds are not good friends? Sliding across the floor or leaping and dipping, the dancers suggest flight. Shirts held out become wings. Hands cross, casting shadows on the sheets, but there is nothing so unsubtle as arms flapping. The choreography is simple, the two endlessly circling the space – perhaps too simple – but it allows the audience to imagine the vast distances birds traverse.

The soundscape by Jenny Sturgeon is one of the delights of the show. Birdsong recorded in Shetland, including the strange churring of storm petrels at night on Mousa, is mixed with electronic weirdness and live vocals: a song in Shetlandic, a poem by Kathleen Jamie and the traditional song Mullalyo among them, accompanied by a mountain dulcimer, a guitar and the rattling of limpet shells.

Towards the end, there are voiceovers from locals about the need to leave and the need to return home. More could be made of the human parallels in the choreography itself, but there is much to recommend in this charming show.

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The Blurb:

An immersive 50 minute dance performance created in Shetland and inspired by the migration of birds. Mesmerising choreography, live music from Jenny Sturgeon and stunning projected visuals, A Journey of Flight creates a thought-provoking journey of arrivals, departures, the nostalgia of place and the notion of flight itself. Set against a backdrop of flowing white sheets, the dancers move through ever changing spaces, exploring new states of being and new homes. This visually stunning piece invites audiences to reflect on the delicate balance between nature, movement and our emotional ties to place. MadeInScotlandShowcase.com