For the choreographer, walking binds us together in a living world. The exhausted walker along a road is one of the most compelling and universal images of what it means to be human, depicting individuality and solitude in a vast world, while showing the strength and will of bodies. Walking, ideally, generates a state in which mind, body and world tend to align. The rhythm of walking generates a rhythm of thought, in the same way that traversing a landscape echoes or stimulates the traversal of a series of ideas. The result is a consonance between inner and outer passages, suggesting that the mind is also a kind of landscape, and that walking is one way of traversing it. As a result, walkers develop a different perception of time, of the senses, an openness of the body to landscapes. In the experience of walking, every step is a battle with the impossibility of escaping oneself. You become a walker among walkers.

Walking, simple gestures, salt, archetypal geometric forms such as lines, spirals and crosses, notions of duration and repetition are all motifs in Joanne Leighton’s work. Similarly, salt and the shape of the circle are at the heart of her pieces 9000 Pas, Salt Circle and Songlines. These works are shaped by the environment and form part of her landscape. Materials are assembled and transformed by the same modifying factors as Land Art : time and place, available space and light ; all combine in each performance.

WALK by Joanne Leighton since 2015

WALK #1 from Belfort to Freiburg, June 17-20, 2015
Leaving the CCNFCB in 2015, Joanne Leighton leads the way for WLDN. On a journey of 119 kilometers over 4 days, the choreographer lays out the philosophical foundations of her new artistic project.

WALK #2 September 17, 2017
Opening of the residency at Paris Réseau Danse

WALK #3 June 1, 2019
Closing of the residency at Paris Réseau Danse
For the European Heritage Days

WALK #4 September 20, 2020
For the Journées du Matrimoine, with Chorège - CDCN Falaise Normandie

WALK #5 October 02, 2021
Opening of the Cycle des Veilleurs #1 with La Maison Pop - Montreuil

WALK #6 September 07, 2024
Closing of the Cycle des Veilleurs #2 with l’Atelier de Paris / CDCN

WALK #7 Juin 28, 2025
With le Grand R, Scène nationale La Roche-sur-Yon