BIAS 2016 | lizrochecompany

Katherine O’Malley’s Bias at The Complex was a visually weighty, aesthetic piece. The conceptual premise of the work, as explained in the programme, is O’Malley’s exploration of her own biases and how these influence her daily decisions. But the piece stands for itself, without this context. Framed by three projections of Mark Linnane’s impeccable filming showing O’Malley in different natural settings (Sandymount Strand, Poolbeg lighthouse, a gorse patch in a field), the dancer performs a sequence of sinuous movements, echoed by her projected self in a series of swooping loops as she runs through the space on the same track in a continuous cycle. The complexity of the timing, the precariousness of moving in a space that is uneven of floor and obstructed by pillars, is handled lightly, and with grace. Bias is a well-formed thing, a spacious object for contemplation, a delight for the eye.

Totally Dublin May 2016

Bias

by Katherine O'Malley

In Bias, Liz Roche Company's associate dance artist Katherine O’Malley joins forces with video artist Mark Linane and composer Daragh Dukes to question the split second judgements we make every day. This solo performance investigates the logic behind these unconscious decisions and asks: if we are composed of our biases, for better or for worse, should we trust them?

Choreographer/Performer: Katherine O’Malley

Music: Daragh Dukes

Film: Mark Linnane

Dramaturg: Fergus Byrne

Lighting Design: Aideen Malone

Costume Design: Saileóg O’Halloran

Bias produced by Liz Roche Company and part of a shared evening with Liz Roche's Time Over Distance Over Time, performed at DUBLIN DANCE FESTIVAL18th - 21st May 2016 at the Complex, Dublin 1.

It also performed at Tipperary Dance Festival 2016, Dance Limerick and the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance at University of Limerick.

What the press said about Bias.......

Katherine O’ Malley’s Bias is a more private questioning, an interior challenge pitting her own body against the environment, in filmed and live performances. There is a shifting landscape of a low tide seashore, where she steadfastly walks out to the horizon. In a series of print dresses she reimagines her shape against rocky outcrops or long grass, as if to understand how best to change or gain perspective. It is a very polished piece of collaboration with filmmaker Mark Linnane and Daragh Dukes’ soundscape.

Seona Mac Réamoinn The Irish Times 2016