Artistic Director / Choreographer
& performance specialist
Site Specific Work
The stories in places, people and space
Light Chasers
Originally commissioned by Wandsworth and 'Nine Elms on the Southbank this first incarnation of 'Light Chasers' was Part of the Winter Trails: An event that celebrated the Remapping of the Nine Elms are.
The performance took place December 2017 and was then recommissioned to take place as part of the 'Winter Festival' 2019 reincarnated as 'Light Chasers Return'
The brief for this show was simple. To introduce people from both the local community and beyond to the new spaces that were opening up around Nine Elms on the Southbank.
An evening performance by dancers, skaters and the amazing athletes from Parkour Generations, was specifically created that could travel through these new spaces bringing the audience along with them.
From this brief we created 'Light Chasers'. A promenade piece of Site Specific Theatre with interactive expereinces that would bring the community together in a finale moment of fun, laughter and sharing.
This was Roberts' testing ground at doing fast, quick turnaround outdoor promenade works that are now one of her signiture style works that form the backbone of her vision.
To bring people together to share time, thoughts and experiences in places. The epitamy of community
Still Standing, Not Standing Still
Commisisoned as part of a summer programme of public art in the area of Nine Elms, Roberts was asked to consider working on a new site specific series of dance works that would celebrate the sculptures and art works recently introduced.
After researching these works and working alongside clients from 'Nine Elms on the Southbank' and 'Battersea Power Station' we came up with the commision 'Still Standing, not Standing Still'. A delivery of Roberts' now signiture style promenade performance pieces with a focus on attempting to collaborate with some of the local community groups in the area from the 'Over 50's', students within the 'Royal Academy of Dance' to the 'Guides' and 'Brownies'.
It was a bold and brave commission that paved the way for a broader stragegy to reach further into the community and although in the end we were unable to work with any of the younger age groups on this occasion due to summer holidays we were able to engage the over 50's who were amazing and an invaluable asset to our team and the creation of this very large work.
Still Standing, Not Standing Still ( Part 2 )
Part of the summer programme of public art in the area of Nine Elms 2018 Roberts created the second part of her two part 'Still Standing, Not Standing Still Commission.
Although both parts of this commisison shared the same name, they were very different. Performed in differnt spaces, and on different dates and with a much smaller cast of proffessional performers this was a far more intimate environment and as with Lorraines work very much inspired by the location. Unlike part 1, the sculptures would not just be the background in 'Still Standing, not Standing Still Part 2'. They would also be an inherent part of the performance, set pieces that dancers could perform on and around. Sensitivity to the works of art and to the needs of those companies that owned them was a key aspect of the remit here. Protecting another artists work whilst it being both the focus and an integral part of the set added new and interesting dimensions to the work and the creative process that has and will further inform any future works of this nature.
Light Chasers Return
Re - Commissioned as part of the 'Winter Festival' 2018
This was a re - run of the original 'Light Chasers' with a few changes to the line up and some tech changes in line with taking a greener view when it came to the inclusion of balloon solutions that could consider concerns around recent helium shortages.
Sadly rain meant this performance ran in poor weather mode and we were unable to get any good pictures of the evening however these pictures show some of the rehearsals.
There were many learnings curves from this show, most notably that no matter what we do to make sure we can perform in whatever weather, finding new and interesting ways to get audiences to come to a wet weather show are important.
The challenges of Site specific works are a never ending source of what makes site specific works what they are. A community driven vibe where everyone mucks in and celebrates what is together
