RE•GARD

RE•GARD is an upcoming collaboration between choreographer and dancer Théa Bautista and photographer Catherine Walsh. Currently in development, this cross-disciplinary project brings together a choreographed duet and a photographic exploration to question how imperfection, often hidden or corrected, can instead become a space of power and beauty.

The title plays on the French word regard—a gaze, a way of seeing—and the English idea of re-garding: looking again. RE•GARD invites both artists and audience to revisit what we think we know about presence, control, and self-image. It is an inquiry into how we inhabit our own skin, how we expose what we once considered flaws, and how we can be vulnerable with confidence.

For Catherine Walsh, a former ballet dancer turned photographer, this work stems from a personal shift away from the perfectionism of classical dance. She is drawn to moments that resist polish—the pause before a movement, the slight collapse after an effort, the unconscious gesture when the camera is forgotten. Her lens seeks not performance, but truth.

Théa Bautista, a choreographer and founder of Althea Dance Company, approaches the project from both personal and artistic perspectives. As a dancer, she has long wrestled with the demand for perfection—an internalized pressure that fuels and frustrates. This project is a way to acknowledge that struggle, and to explore choreography as a site of release, not just discipline. Her work, deeply influenced by questions of identity, presence, and perception, aims to use the body as a space where the invisible becomes visible.

Together, Bautista and Walsh are developing RE•GARD as a layered, intimate dialogue between movement and stillness. It is a project that offers a new lens—one that reclaims imperfection not as lack, but as something profoundly human, worthy of being seen, and of being looked at again.

Artistic Team

Photographer

Catherine Walsh

Catherine Walsh is a photographer and former professional ballet dancer who performed in London and New York until 2019. Her shift into photography began organically—documenting her life on tour and in New York with a point-and-shoot film camera. This personal practice soon evolved into commissioned work for small fashion brands and a deeper exploration of visual storytelling.

Influenced by her years in dance, Catherine brings a refined sense of movement and composition to her photography. But rather than seeking polished lines or perfection, she is drawn to the raw, unfiltered moments in between poses—when the subject is unaware of the camera, when a gesture feels awkward, honest, or unexpected. These instances, often overlooked, reveal something essential and real.

Her work questions our relationship to perfection and performance, asking how we can accept our insecurities and be seen without pretense. Through photography, Catherine continues to explore vulnerability as a powerful and beautiful act of presence.

Choreographer & Dancer

Thea Bautista

Théa Bautista is a Franco-Mexican-American choreographer and dancer, and the founder of Althea Dance Company. Trained in Paris and New York, she has worked with artists and companies such as Damien Jalet, Giuliano Peparini, Compagnie R2, and Azul Dance Theater, performing internationally across France, the U.S., Mexico, and the U.K.

Her choreographic language blends fluid contemporary movement with physical intensity, exploring themes of identity, vulnerability, and self-perception. Deeply influenced by her multicultural background, Théa collaborates across disciplines, creating projects with visual artists, writers, and musicians. Notable performances and commissions include work at the Palais de Tokyo (Paris), La MaMa Theater (New York), The Place (London), and the Cité internationale des arts.

Théa’s work invites audiences into poetic, sometimes uneasy spaces where movement becomes a mirror for inner landscapes—bringing to light what is often left unspoken through the expressive language of the body.