Adam Russell-Jones: Release the Hounds – Sophiensæle | Independent Theater in Berlin

Adam Russell-Jones:
Release the Hounds

A single person stands against a black background, wrapping their arms around their own torso with one hand placed on the back of the head. The light top with orange accents contrasts sharply with the dark space.
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Release The Hounds is a depiction of dancing through times of crisis. Set on the dance floor of the performer’s psyche, reminiscent of a ballroom or the basement of a nightclub, the spectacle depicts a man who can’t stop dancing. Inspired by the dance marathons of the 1920s and 1930s during the Great Depression in the US and rave culture of both contemporary and Thatcher-eras, Release The Hounds is a ballad of the working-class dancer. As he sways on the dance floor, the question arises as to whether he is there for pleasure or payoff. The work explores the sensual and poetic experience of being the last person on the dance floor; an abstract representation of dance as an escape from reality, but also as a means of surviving it.

Inspired by the novel RAVE by Rainald Goetz and the 1996 film They Shoot Horses Don’t They?, the performance follows a narrative in which one doesn’t always make ends meet, but in which the work remains clear: the dancer must keep dancing.

Release The Hounds premiered during Tanztage Berlin at Sophiensæle in January 2025.

Ticket
Ticket

Please note that details may change until the day of the event. Therefore, if you only find out after purchasing your ticket that the performance is no longer accessible for you, you can contact us via ticketing@sophiensaele.com or 030 27 89 00 45 (Monday to Friday between 10 am and 6 pm) up to 5 working days after the event to return your ticket.

Duration

  • Approx. 45 minutes without intermission

Language

  • No language

Light

  • There is an alternating light and dark lighting mood
  • There is a sudden moment of complete darkness

Sound

  • There is an almost continuous background noise and music
  • Some of the background noise and music resembles white noise and/or consists partly of high frequencies
  • There are some loud parts. Earplugs are provided

Early Boarding

  • There will be a long admission.

Tickets

  • Can be reserved via the ticket telephone on 030 283 52 66, Monday to Friday from 4-6 p.m.
  • Via the online ticket shop
  • At the box office

Further information on accessibility at the theater can also be found here.

Choreography, performance: Adam Russell-Jones
Sound design: Moritz Haas
Lighting design: Emilio Cordero

A production by Adam Russell-Jones in co-production with Sophiensæle. The premiere took place as part of the 34th Tanztage Berlin, a festival organized by Sophiensæle and sponsored by the Senate Department for Culture and Social Cohesion. Media partners: Missy Magazine, Siegessäule, taz.

Adam Russell-Jones is a dance artist born in the UK and based in Berlin. He began his vocational ballet training at Elmhurst School for dance in Birmingham and subsequently went on to join the Royal Ballet School in London. After graduation Russell-Jones went on to join the Stuttgart Ballet. Whilst working with the Stuttgart Ballet, Russell-Jones was nominated by the Deutscher Bühnenverein for the Faust prize under the category of best performance for his role in Spectre de la Rose by Marco Goecke. In 2017 Russell-Jones joined the Nederlands Dans Theater and then the Hannover Staatsballett. Since 2022 Russell-Jones has been working as a freelance artist residing in Berlin. In 2025 Russell-Jones created his first full length work, Release the Hounds, during Tanztage Berlin at Sophiensæle with much critical acclaim. Release the Hounds was shown at ImpulsTanz International Dance Festival in Vienna and the Southbank Centre in London.

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