Arnolfini invites dance artists and enthusiasts to a workshop with the creator of Deepspace – exploring the process behind the work, crafted at sea in the Antarctic.
The workshop begins with a lecture/demonstration in which James will introduce participants to a physical mapping process he developed as part of a research expedition to the sub-Antarctic Heard and McDonald Islands in 2016. It is centred on the idea of an encounter with the unknown; a bodily sensing and scanning of space through touch. He will then guide participants to explore this process in their own bodies.
The workshop welcomes experienced dance makers and contemporary dance enthusiasts alike.
James Batchelor is an award winning choreographer and dancer from Australia. His mission as an artist is to make work that inspires curiosity. To shift assumptions, widen awareness and create possibility. He strives to find ways that dance can be a conversation, collaboration and exchange with other disciplines and communities. His work is particular in how it responds to context, from conception to presentation; it strongly considers how a performance exists within a specific space and time.
James trained at the Victorian College of the Arts graduating with a Bachelor in Fine Arts (Dance) in 2012. Over the last five years he has generated an extensive body of work including commissions from Chunky Move (REDSHIFT) Dance Massive (DEEPSPACE), Dancehouse (ISLAND), Keir Choreographic Award (METASYSTEMS, INHABITED GEOMETRIES) and the National Portrait Gallery of Australia. (SMOOTH TRANSLATION).
James’s work has been presented internationally in Paris (La Briqueterie), Versailles (Plastique Danse Flore), Luxembourg (Casino Luxembourg / Trois CL), Bassano del Grappa (Operaestate), Chongqing (501 Artspace) and Bangkok (Creative Industries). He was a resident artist on the RV Investigator, Australia’s marine research vessel, which travelled to the sub-Antarctic Heard and McDonald islands in 2016.
As a performer he has worked with choreographers such as Iván Pérez, Anouk van Dijk (Chunky Move), Antony Hamilton, Prue Lang, Stephanie Lake and Sue Healey.
For more information, visit James’ website.
