Like A Fish Out Of Water

A site-specific Podwalk for London lidos

Like a Fish out of Water presents an inspired new concept that blends site-specific performance and handheld video technology featuring artists, dancers, actors and design, leading audiences on a magical journey around London lidos.

Taking place during opening hours, the audience receives an iPod with headphones to follow the route on the iPod screen and listen to the soundtrack, stopping to sit on deck chairs or picnic rugs, encountering live and pre-recorded performance, installation and the everyday users of the lido. A story unfolds based on the fictional heroine of Like a Fish out of Water, an elderly woman who has visited and swum in the lido since childhood. She is “like a fish out of water” when on land and her fantasies and inner life are captured in a combination of beautiful underwater scenes in pre-filmed sequences and live performance. Myths and legends, mermaids and selkies, all are explored in this fascinating multi sensory experience.

Commissioned by English National Ballet and the London Mayors Office for the Cultural Olympiad London 2012. Produced by Zap Art in conjunction with the London Boroughs of Hillingdon, Richmond-upon-Thames, the Victoria and Albert Museum and Istituto Marangoni.