This January, the Seymour Centre will pulse with the raw energy and intensity of Air Time, Branch Nebula’s fearless new production colliding BMX, skate, dance, and parkour in a jaw-dropping showcase as part of the 2025 Sydney Festival.
Thrilling audiences with airborne stunts, intense rhythms, and a driving electro soundtrack by Phil Downing, Air Time takes street style to new heights, blending urban artforms with fierce precision and an energetic edge.
Ramps tower, wheels spin, and bodies soar as BMXers, skaters, dancers, and parkourists launch into gravity-defying sequences that bring the raw energy of the street into the heart of the theatre. As performers propel with high velocity and breathtaking skill, Air Time delivers a mesmerising experience – where danger and elegance coexist in the most electrifying way imaginable.
“We are continually challenging ourselves as performance makers, like the street-style artists we work with who push their bodies, we squeeze everything we can out of our creative minds, to push the boundaries,” said co-creators, Lee Wilson and Mirabelle Wouters.
“With Air Time we have stretched the street-style culture into new territory for the audiences’ minds to be blown, beyond the spectacle, and the risky tricks, but also those elements are the glue, the rhythm of the piece.”
“Since 2004, we have made eight street-style productions all wildly different. Air Time draws on all that experience, and evolves our practice into a whole new area; we have also been mining our experimental theatre work into objects and everyday materials, which is not so out there for street-style artists like bmxers, skaters, parkourists and dancers, who often challenge themselves with found materials to build up new obstacles to run, jump, and soar over.“
Branch Nebula brings the virtuosity of street culture into the theatre, with a complex and spectacular show honouring their history and knowledge of the artforms and subcultures informed by two decades of experimental performance art.
Air Time features a host of performers including pro skateboarder Austin Gray, professional BMX rider XXXX, dancers Cloé Fournier (a guest choreographer/teaching artist with the Illawarra’s AUSTI. Dance and Physical Theatre Company), breakdancer Feras Shaheen, and for the first time, Branch Nebula is working with a roller skater, Larrakia woman Tia Pitman.
Co-Creators: Lee Wilson, Mirabelle Wouters | Featuring: Alejandro Scarone (Parkour), Cloé Fournier (Dancer), Feras Shaheen (Dancer), Xxx (Bmx), Austin Gray & Nakula Boag (Skateboard), Tia Pitman (Rollerskater) | Composer / Sound Designer: Phil Downing | Contributing Composer: Lucy Cliché | Consultant Choreographer: Marnie Palomares | Production Manager & Special Effects Designer: Alejandro Rolandi | Producer: Jennifer Greer Holmes
Air Time
Everest Theatre – Seymour Centre, Corner Cleveland Street and City Road Chippendale
Season: 7 – 11 January 2025
Bookings: www.sydneyfestival.org.au
Air Time will also be presented at Wollongong Town Hall (20 – 22 April). For more information, visit: www.branchnebula.com for details.
Image: Air Time – photo by Johnny Chaing