Event was created in the frame of a shared evening of new works called Everlasting Event from Swedish company Norddans. In Event, you encounter a sensuous world of looping patterns and oceanic ripples. Ornamented with a hint of the baroque, the dancers find joy in connection, synchronising and falling into rhythm with techno-like beats.
Shortcuts to Familiar Places is a personal performance about the body as a site of historical and choreographic inscription. Like a map that is constantly being redrawn and rewritten, the body here goes through endless cycles of transmission and reception. In two duets and a solo, the work explores new artistic ways to embrace the complexity of self-expression in contemporary times – while echoing the free spirit of the expressive dance (Ausdruckstanz) era.
Hyperspace is a solo performed by James Batchelor in intimate theatres and unique found spaces. From the human body to the cosmos, Hyperspace is an inquiry into the metrics we use to measure the deep unknowns of the universe. It proposes a study of the human body seen through the prism of cosmology, a mapping of the universe within and around it. It premiered in Bassano del Grappa in 2018 and was presented in Dance Massive in Melbourne 2019 before extensive touring in Europe. It was chosen as an Aerowaves work in 2019, a prestigious European mobility platform for independent artists.
Deepspace is a multidisciplinary work that investigates arts and science as methods of inquiry into the unknown. From the immediate source of the body through to visual and sonic translations, Deepspace examines processes of searching for, collecting and ordering information that we use to understand the universe. In this work, the body is located between the extremities of remoteness and proximity, connectedness and isolation, certainty and uncertainty.
Gesturing Weaving Unfolding is a work by James Batchelor made in collaboration with the Victorian College of the Arts Bachelor of Fine Arts (Dance) and Bachelor of Fine Arts (Production) students, accompanied by an original sound design by Morgan Hickinbotham.
Occasions is a collectively constructed, celebratory dance experience. Using a shared vocabulary, moments of synchronicity emerge as the dancers make themselves available to connection. A dreamscape of swelling energies and drifting winds is formed by their snaking pathways through the seemingly limitless space. Amidst the repetition and continuity of dancers coming and going, Occasions highlights the subtle ingredients that combine to form a heightened, ecstatic moment through a communal sense of presence and attention.
With An Evening-length Performance, Australian choreographer James Batchelor reimagines the baroque ballroom as a place for queer encounters and expression. A new kind of social dance emerges that invites curiosity about the event space and its inherent theatricality. Sensitive, delicate and poised, the performers embody a shared vocabulary with echoes of their own personal movement histories. As doors open and layers are removed, the formality of the space shifts to allow moments of subtlety and intimacy.
Proscenium is a work that researches and expands the choreographic and spatial tools for the proscenium stage. In Proscenium, the theatre itself is a performer. Its equipment and mechanisms such as the lights, speakers, curtains, ropes, rails and ladders are all theatrical devices that are subtly manipulated in the work. Amidst this graceful movement of architectures emerges a new cosmic dance.
Redshift is a full-length work, originally commissioned by Chunky Move as part of the Next Move program. Redshift is a queer universe in which measurement systems are troubled by the unmeasurable. It stems from a curiosity in touch, physical sensation and speculation of the unknown from body to space. The work is the second in a trilogy that grew from James' unique opportunity to combine scientific and artistic inquiry in one of the most remote places on Earth.
Alien Intimacy speculates on the movement of an interpersonally constructed alien sensibility where the visible and the invisible or the physically embodied and the virtually disembodied intertwine. The distance between human and alien (or body/self and object/other) expands and contracts as the performers locate themselves in a nearby, inter-netted spacetime when “alien” recalls and navigates away from imageries more essentialized, such as the cinematic extraterrestrial.
Metasystems is a performance series that evokes cycles of construction through a rhythmic landscape of moving bricks of varying quantities and scales. Since its original conception as part of the inaugural Keir Choreographic Award in 2014, the work has now seen many iterations around the world in theatres, galleries and public spaces.
Faces is a collection of images and movement originating from the letters and items left behind by James' great grandfather. It deals with the face as a surface of both the physical body and abstract identities. The work spans the dichotomies of past and present, intimate and distant, the faced and the faceless, ultimately returning to the fragility and impermanency of the human body.
Island combines dance with interactive design and live sound to immerse the audience in a futuristic world of remote utopias. Island was created in 2014 in the context of James' Dancehouse Housemate residency and won the Green Room Award for Concept and Realisation.