LAURA SARAH DOWDALL
DANCE ON FILM
VISUAL CINEMA
Since I was a child, I have always loved framing what and how I see a place as if I was looking through the lens of a camera, choreographing the visual elements to create a specific impact and felt sense within the viewer.
The restrictions of the pandemic encouraged me to explore how I could use the viewpoint of the camera as another element of my dance. This led to development of a series of short works, a photographic series and a film soon to be released.
LUISNE
the first blush of light before dawn
In 2021, I undertook a self-directed residency in a Victorian building while it was in the interim stages of being sold.
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As I worked within the building and came to know the Nuns who were the house's most recent residents, I felt an immense desire to capture the story, architecture, energy and beauty of this unique place. Originally the Summer House of the Dublin Lord Mayor, Darraghville House later became a school, a boarding school, a convent and then a community centre for wellbeing.​
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Working within the 17th century Victorian house, the old school and walled gardens, I explored movement scores and filmic perspectives that have led to the creation of a film made in collaboration with Director, Peter O'Brien (POB), Motherland Productions.
The film depicts the liminal space that transcends linear time, connecting people and places in powerful ways we seldom phantom or understand.
Music by Ross Chaney was created by sounds captured on site - singing gates, crows, floorboards, rubble, wind and rattling windows.
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CREATIVE TEAM
Concept: Laura Sarah Dowdall
Performance: Laura Sarah Dowdall
Co-Directors: POB and Laura Sarah Dowdall
Director of Photography: Albert Hooi
Focus: JP Quill
Edit: John Cutler & Alan McCarthy
Music: Ross Chaney
Production Assistant: Rachel O'Brien
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Film soon to be released!
Luisne
Photographic Series
A collection of photographs inspired by the story of this Victorian House and the liminal energy of the buildings and grounds.
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Concept: Laura Sarah Dowdall
Model: Laura Sarah Dowdall
Photographer: Bronwyn O'Brien
Costume: Belle Phipps
Hair & Makeup: Joanna Kenna
Glimpse
Residency Research
'Glimpse' captures a moment in time, and all that can unravel within this liminal space.
This film seeks to give prominence to the character of the place, the garden shed, and the elements of light and sound that permeate the experience of this unique space of timeless objects, decay, and beauty.
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How do we see in a given moment? What do we capture? What do we choose to keep?
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Short film by Laura Sarah Dowdall
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About
Laura Sarah Dowdall is an innovative dance artist creating performance that is engaging, experiential, immersive and permeable to interaction.
She integrates visual art, storytelling, theatre and durational performance into contemporary dance work that is site-specific, staged and on film.
Her practice and choreography focus on researching the performative body in its expanded, transformative and imaginative states, breaking boundaries of hierarchy and expectation, and offering experiences of heightened personal and social awareness.
