James Batchelor & Collaborators: Shortcuts to Familiar Places | Oct 17-20 | SOPHIENSÆLE – Sophiensæle | Independent Theater in Berlin

James Batchelor and Collaborators:
Shortcuts to Familiar Places

Morgan Hickinbotham_4_main visual quer

PLEASE CLICK HERE FOR THE GERMAN AUDIO FLYER.

A personal performance about the body as a site of inscription. In a fascinating excavation of Australian modern dance history, James Batchelor has been tracing a lineage through his childhood dance teacher Ruth Osborne to the modern dance pioneer Gertrud Bodenwieser. Bodenwieser came to Australia as a refugee from Vienna during WW2, inspiring generations with her visionary approach to dance education and choreography. In a solo and two duets, James Batchelor 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.

Premiere

If any questions remain from the following information, please feel free to contact Hannah Aldinger at barrierefreiheit@sophiensaele.com or 030 27 89 00 35. Please note that details may change until the day of the event.

The show lasts 50-55 minutes without an intermission and is suitable for an audience of 12 years or older. In several scenes, video sequences are projected onto a screen. In those sequences, there will be English spoken language with English ans German subtitles. The spoken parts are short and not essential to understand the work. The audience is seated in the dark. The light on-stage is mostly bright and focused around the dancers. There are shadow effects on the floor and the rear screen. Sometimes it gets loud. Then, the volume is building up and down. There are no surprising or jarring sounds. The audience area on the grandstand is seated.

For the performance on 19 October, there is an audio description in German with a preceding tactile tour for blind and visually impaired people. The tactile tour begins 60 minutes before the performance. The meeting point is at the box office in the Sophiensaele courtyard. Ticket reservations are accepted by Hannah Aldinger at barrierefreiheit@sophiensale.com or by calling 030 278900 35. If required, we offer a pick-up service for blind and visually impaired persons from the nearby S-Bahn and U-Bahn stations Hackescher Markt and Weinmeisterstraße. To make use of the pick-up service, please contact us during our business hours (Monday to Friday between 10 am and 6 pm) at 030 27 89 00 30 or barrierefreiheit@sophiensaele.com.

The audience area on the grandstand is seated. There are two wheelchair seats and two beanbag seats, which can be reserved or purchased at the online ticket store or box office, depending on availability. If you need a specific seat or a more relaxed admission due to visible or invisible disabilities, please arrive 20-30 minutes before the performance begins to take advantage of our early boarding offer.

CHOREOGRAPHY, PERFORMANCE James Batchelor STAGE DIRECTOR  Bek Berger COMPOSITION Morgan Hickinbotham PERFORMANCE Chloe Chignell LIGHT DESIGN Vinny Jones COSTUME DESIGN Juliane König VIDEO MONTAGE Margie Medlin VIDEOGRAPHY James Batchelor CHOREOGRAPHIC CONSULTATION Ruth Osborne, Eileen Kramer, Carol Brown RESEARCH CONSULTATION Michelle Potter PUBLIC RELATIONS COLLABORATOR Micha Tsouloukidse DANCE INTERN Caspar Ilschner 

A production by James Batchelor and Collaborators in coproduction with SOPHIENSÆLE. Funded by the Capital Cultural Fund and the Australia Council for the Arts, Tanja Liedtke Foundation, Michael Adena and Joanne Daly. With support of Tanzhaus nrw, QL2 Dance, Belconnen Arts Centre, Cocoon Dance, Trauma Bar und Kino, and Theaterhaus Mitte. Media partner:  taz, die tageszeitung.

James Batchelor and Collaborators are a creative team lead by choreographer James Batchelor working between Australia and Europe. Previous productions including Shortcuts to Familiar Places, Deepspace and Hyperspace have performed extensively in contexts such as Tanz im August (Berlin), Impulstanz (Vienna) and Centre Pompidou (Paris). 

James Batchelor is a choreographer from Ngunnawal Country (Canberra) whose practice spans choreography, research, and teaching. His work investigates the body as a tool for inquiry – mapping, sensing, and measuring space through choreographic form. Grounded in repetition, spatial elasticity, and rhythmic subtlety, his performances create immersive, contemplative environments that invite audiences into expanded experiences of time and perception.

  • Morgan Hickinbotham_4_main visual quer
    © Morgan Hickinbotham
  • Andrew Sikorski_3
    © Andrew Sikorski
  • Andrew Sikorski_1
    © Andrew Sikorski
  • Andrew Sikorski_2
    © Andrew Sikorski

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