The WLDN company, directed by choreographer Joanne Leighton, is composed of twelve intergenerational choreographic artists and loyal artistic collaborators who have been with the company for many years. Its works are presented both in France and internationally, taking on a variety of forms. In recent years, the company’s creations have focused on large-scale productions involving many dancers, while more intimate pieces, such as duets and quartets, continue to be part of the repertoire. The choreographer also creates site-specific works, often taking the form of urban installations, as well as participatory performances presented outside, on the move, or in the open air. Original musical compositions play a central role in Joanne Leighton’s works, which are also distinguished by their visual plasticity, incorporating video, costume design, and elaborate scenography.

WLDN is a project and a philosophy at the same time. The title references the renowned book Walden by Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862), American essayist, teacher, philosopher, naturalist and poet. This novel, published in 1854, influenced many schools of thought and served as a reference for those seeking to reconnect with basic values. Thoreau recounts his two years experience living independently in the middle of nature.

WLDN can be portrayed as a kind of ‘transcendental striptease’, which represents for me coming back to the fundamental essence and a simplifying of work, of stripping down, but also, back to the most elemental, even the most primordial aspects of performance in terms of dance, movement, and site.

What is it in Thoreau’s action that can be mirrored in our changing cultural landscape with the contemporary tools we have in creating, recording, notating, publishing, dissemination ?