Leaf Work (Derrigimlagh) 2020 presents a single female figure clad from head to foot in green Irish spring leaves. This cloaking of the figures recalls the pan European tradition of the Green Man, a mysterious but widely distributed forest entity relating to Spring celebrations and now principally known through wood carvings within medieval churches. Animated by celebrated dancer Finola Cronin the leaf covered figure in the work slowly walks a circle upon the empty Connemara landscape across night and day and over the solar year.
To achieve the work Finola, wearing a motion capture suit, walked, danced and performed in a studio setting. This series of motions was captured and converted into data. In time motion matching and neural networks generate the ongoing infinite choreography for the character we see in the work. The performances were developed in close dialogue with movement analyst Esther Balfe, alongside input from Finola herself.
The work speaks of the infinite flows of energy that animate our landscapes and societies but here the choreography centers on the representation of environmental stress. This is not a bucolic or peaceful scene. This language provides the core emotional temperature of this experimental work. An engagement aligned with dance, the seasons themselves and the food and light that sustain us all.
Leaf Work (Derrigimlagh) 2020 was commissioned by Galway International Arts Festival for Galway2020, European Capital of Culture.

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