SOLITUDE (2022)
‘Solitude’ is a screendance collaboration between Scottish director Katrina McPherson and Quebec choreographer Harold Rhéaume, a creative duo whose partnership began in the 1990s. Solitude investigates the interplay between individuality and community, isolation and belonging. Six central performers traverse rural and urban locations in Scotland and Québec, performing emotionally intense choreography by Harold Rhéaume, developed in collaboration with the dancers.
The film is structured though a series of vignettes, variously depicting the characters, alone and together; the camera takes the viewer into the intimacy of these shared and solitary moments, juxtaposing the performative with gaze of a curious, passing public. As co-director and cinematographer, McPherson employs an “embodied camera”, a practice in which converges familiarity with the technology, confidence in visual environment created through attention to mise-en-scène and a lived understanding of how bodies move in space. Shifting between peripheral and focused perception - through and around the lens, while also attuned to the cinematographer’s physicality - contributes to the dynamic and responsive material.
Screenings →
Première: Choreoscope Festival in Barcelona, Spain, October 2022
Additional presentations:
Moovy Tanzfilmfestival/ dance film festival, Koln, Germany, March 2024
Greensboro Dance Film Festival, N.C. USA, February 2024 (Award winner)
SHAPE III: Contemporary Art by Women Educators at Callanwolde Fine Arts Center, Atlanta, Georgia, USA, March 2026
Production Credits
Directed by Katrina McPherson & Harold Rheaume
Performance & Choreography: Jean-Francois Duke, Aicha N’diaye, Lewis Landini
Camera & Editing: Katrina McPherson
Music: Josue Beaucage
Funding & support
The British Council QC-UK Connections Fund; Creative Scotland; Québec Government (MRIF); City of Québec; Dance North, Scotland; Dance Base, Edinburgh; The Work Room, Glasgow; La Maison pour la Dance and Le Fils d’Adrien danse.
