The Substation/​ Artist/​James Batchelor & Collaborators /

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 toured extensively to contexts such as Dance Massive (Melbourne), MONA (Hobart), 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.

James began his artistic life with Canberra’s Quantum Leap youth ensemble, before training at the Victorian College of the Arts. In his early career he worked with renowned Australian choreographers including Anouk van Dijk, Antony Hamilton, Prue Lang, Stephanie Lake and Sue Healey, as well as companies such as Chunky Move and Tasdance.

He has forged an independent choreographic career that is widely recognised in Australia and Europe. A defining experience was a two-month scientific expedition aboard the RV Investigator in the Antarctic Ocean, where he developed a unique approach to the body as a form of experimental cartography. This spirit of cross-disciplinary curiosity continues to shape his research-driven practice.

Alongside touring, James is developing a pedagogy that integrates somatic awareness, interpretation, and access, working with youth and pre-professional dancers nationwide.