NOTE A workshop on the performance practice of Hyperspace, designed with a special focus on accessibility for blind and visually impaired people, will take place on January 16 from 3 to 5 p.m. in the Festsaalfoyer of Sophiensæle.
An expedition to the subantarctic islands was the creative trigger for James Batchelor’s performance Hyperspace. The solo, presented as a video work as part of Tanztage Berlin 2022, is a study of the metrics we use to measure the unknown, from the human body to the cosmos. It proposes a study of the human body perceived through the prism of cosmology – a mapping of the universe within and around it. In Hyperspace, the fleshy material of the body bends, stretches and is reconfigured as alien transmutation, appearing simultaneously colossal and microscopic. James Batchelor (re)maps the interior and exterior landscapes of the body, inviting a critical gaze on masculinity through a process of curious self-discovery.
JAMES BATCHELOR is a Berlin-based choreographer and performer from Australia. His works are focused on the hypnotic, visually detailed and draw the audience into a contemplative and imaginative world. In 2016 he participated in a two-month expedition to Antarctica and has since developed several performance works from this experience that have been shown in theaters, galleries and festivals around the world, including Tanz im August (Berlin), Centre Pompidou (Paris) and Dance Massive (Melbourne). James was selected as an Aerowaves artist in 2019.
CHOREOGRAPHY, PERFORMANCE James Batchelor COMPOSITION Morgan Hickinbotham DRAMATURGY Bek Berger AUDIODESCRIPTION Felix Koch, Gerald Pirner SOUND EDITING Andrea Würth
A production by James Batchelor & Collaborators. Funded by the Australian Government through the Australia Council, Creative Partnerships Australia through the Australian Cultural Fund, The Besen Family Foundation, The Keir Foundation and Michael Adena and Joanne Daly. The 31st edition of Tanztage Berlin is a production of the SOPHIENSÆLE. Funded by the Senate Department for Culture and Europe. With the friendly support of Tanzfabrik Berlin e. V. and Theaterhaus Berlin Mitte. Media partners: Siegessäule, tipBerlin, taz and Berlin Art Link.