IN-SITU CREATION, EXPERIENTIAL WALK (2024)
LA BALADE DU REGARD
What do we see when we look, and what escapes our sight? How do we move from simple vision to observation, and how does this shift influence our thoughts and the rhythm of our wandering? How do images weave together, intertwine, interact, and combine to transform our perception of the environment? How do we look at the world, and what role does observation play in our perception?
With La balade du regard, Olga de Soto proposes a situated experience that seeks to explore different practices of seeing and registers of attention. Building on the verbs of seeing, it invites us to experience how the gaze, guided by intention, can carry us from mere vision to observation.
Conceived as a series of walks through urban, peri-urban, natural, or transitional environments, this in situ proposal is grounded in a landscape, urban, architectural, sociological and poetic reading of the territory explored. It develops a form of writing that stages the practice of the gaze in the exploration of the environment.
Through a sensory and poetic exploration of spaces, living beings, and the things we encounter, this holistic project intertwines an ecology of the gaze with a poetics of the landscape. It proposes a renewed interpretation of the sensitive and complex fabric of the territory that hosts it.
La balade du regard invites us to slow down, observe and reinvent the way we perceive. It encourages us to consider the role of the gaze in our daily lives and our relationship with the world, and to knit connections between attention, observation and imagination — between past and present.
PRESENTATION BROCHURE AVAILABLE ON REQUEST
SUSTAINABILITY AND PHILOSOPHY
Like the performances Paper Lane and Paper Mirage, which may accompany it, La balade du regard embodies a deep ecological dimension. By relying exclusively on walking and the senses, this project reflects an ecological approach that has played a significant role in Olga de Soto's work since the early 2000s. Its design underlines this commitment, favouring simple means, chosen as a conscious act of care for the environment.
Walking proposal by and with Olga de Soto
Format: walk, adaptable to towns, villages, and natural sites
Duration: variable, from 2 to 3 hours (depending on the context)
Language: French (adaptable to English, Spanish, and Portuguese)
Audience: general public, ages 10 and up
Number of participants: 15 to 30 people per session, depending on the site
Duration of the creative residency: one week of on-site immersion and writing (minimum 4 days)
Production: Niels Production (Brussels). Association supported by the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles — Direction Générale de la Culture — Service de la Danse and accompanied by Grand Studio (Brussels).
PREVIOUS WALKS
Designed as a contextual creation, La balade du regard is always conceived specifically for the territory that hosts it, taking on a new form with each iteration. The initial protocol is adapted and developed according to the site.
· 10/11/2024 : La balade du regard #1, Festival Neuf Neuf, Rieux-Volvestre (FR) · Creation for Rieux-Volvestre
· 06/09/2025 : La balade du regard #2, Festival Plastique danse flore, Potager du Roi, Versailles (FR) · Creation for Versailles
· 07/09/2025 : La balade du regard #2, Festival Plastique danse flore, Potager du Roi, Versailles (FR) · Creation for Versailles
· 03/10/2025 : La balade du regard #3, Festival Entre cour et jardin, Le Dancing CDCN Dijon, Dijon (FR) (schools audiences) · School-specific creation for Dijon
· 04/10/2025 : La balade du regard #4, Festival Entre cour et jardin, Le Dancing CDCN Dijon, Dijon (FR) · Creation for Dijon
PREFIGURATIONS
This project has its origins in a personal individual practice of walking and observation, which Olga de Soto extended through her academic work. Before becoming an in-situ creation, the project was tested in diverse contexts through experimental walks conducted between 2017 and 2023, allowing the protocol, routes, and methods of transmission to be refined with different types of audiences.
· Zurich Universtiy of the Arts / Zürcher Hochschule der Künste / MA Theater, Das perzeptuelle & physics gedächtnis, Zürich (2017)
· IMAGINE Project, CN D, Pantin (2018)
· Mille Plateaux – CCN La Rochelle, Invité·e mystère, La Rochelle (2022)
· Artesis Plantijn Hogeschool Antwerpen, Conservatorium Antwerp, Master in dance M1 & M2, Antwerp (2022, 2023)
· PREAC 2023 / Récits des corps, récits des mots, (auto) biographies et (auto)fictions, ICI – CCN de Montpellier, Montpellier (2023)
· Institut del Teatre de Barcelona, Specialised studies in Live Arts and Contexts (postgraduate program), Centro Territorial d’Osona, Vic (2023)