Notes of Self
by James Batchelor
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'Notes of Self' (2025) by James Batchelor. Photo by Morgan Hickinbotham.
— Expressionism for all ages
A solo in many voices: Notes of Self is an intimate blend of intellect and emotion that opens new pathways to dance for children and adults alike. Playful, surprising, and full of movement, the choreography welcomes young audiences, including those who may never have been to the theatre before, while inviting adults into a fresh dialogue with the radical spirit of expressionist dance.
Notes of Self is inspired by Batchelor’s research into the diasporic history of expressionist dance in Australia and his year-long residency in a primary school in Berlin through Initiative LUNA PARK. Century-old avant-garde tradition meets the spontaneous movements of children and creates a performance that is both historically aware and radically present.
Children’s perspectives have influenced not only the movement but also the dramaturgy: what they notice, what draws them in, what they remember. The result is a solo that becomes a conversation across generations, bodies, and ways of seeing.
Designed for audiences of all ages, this performance welcomes both seasoned dance enthusiasts and curious first-timers, including children of any age, who are invited to see themselves reflected in its energy and imagination.
Lead Artist, Choreographer, Performer James Batchelor
Dramaturg & Producer Bek Berger
Composer Morgan Hickinbotham
Light Design Veslemøy Rustad Holseter
Costume Design Cote Jaña Zuñiga
This project has been Fringe Funded, as part of XS with thanks to Daniel Besen. A production by James Batchelor and Collaborators in co-production with Sophiensæle. Originally funded by Fonds Darstellende Künste, co-produced by the Initiative LUNA PARK e.V. as part of the program LUNAPARK.Residency Fellowships, supported by the Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Social Cohesion.
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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.
Bek Berger is an artist, dramaturg, curator based in Berlin. From 2020-2024 she was the curator of the International Festival of Contemporary Theatre, Homo Novus in Riga. Her practice binds curiosity with innovation in order to design new models of connection, collaboration and reciprocity between artists and communities across borders and art forms. As a producer, she worked for such festivals as American Realness (NYC), Dance Massive (AU), Darwin Festival (AU). She has collaborated closely with James Batchelor since 2017, facilitating, guiding and supporting artistic processes and international profile building.
Morgan Hickinbotham is a Berlin based composer, producer and image maker who works within the mediums of sound, image and motion picture. Morgan’s compositions focus on creatively manipulating sound and image through exploring and expanding on minor imperfections or mistakes inherent in artistic experimentation. In 2012 Morgan graduated the Victoria College of the Arts with a Batchelor of Fine Arts, Photography. Morgan has collaborated with James extensively since 2014.
