Mind, Body And Movement In The Scottish Wilderness

Ana Norrie-Toch escapes the pressure of city life by taking to her bike, and uses movement to forge a deeper connection with the landscape

Feature type Video

Read time 2 mins

Published Dec 19, 2022

Base editorial team
BASE editorial team BASE writers and editors who live and breathe adventure every day. We love adventure storytelling as much as we love adventure itself.

​​Ana Norrie-Toch is a movement artist and choreographer based in Edinburgh, adventuring into the wild landscapes that lies outside of the city is the catalyst for her creativity. Embarking on solo bikepacking trips and wild camping in the Scottish Highlands, she finds connection with the landscape through choreography and movement.

The below video by Wilderness Scotland follows Ana on one of those adventures. She explains how the vast landscape allows her body and mind the space to reconnect, and the quietness to listen to herself. Through movement she demonstrates the freedom she feels when immersed in wild spaces.

Previously rooted in the expectation and pressure of performance through her background in dance, adventure has positively shifted Ana’s personal relationship with her body. Now influenced by endurance, the elements and her journey into the wild, her body is informed to move in these landscapes in a way that is true to her. The journey of adventure and all that encompasses is what builds this quiet sense of strength between her body and mind – creating a true physical response to landscape.

Inspired by the people and communities she continues to meet on her adventures through the Highlands, Ana is driven to explore and share the stories of the land in the form of movement-based storytelling. She hopes to spark conversation on the diverse ways we adventure and connect to landscapes, and to inspire
others to find adventure their way.

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