We’re thrilled to announce Artist in Residence Mitchell Christie in collaboration with composer-dramaturg James Hazel, curator Belle Beasley, and designer Kirsten Willis.

As part of the residence, Mitchell Christie and collaborators will present ‘Way of Escape,’ a new site-specific performance at The Lock-Up.

Mitchell Christie and James Hazel take as a starting point the influential collaboration between American choreographer Merce Cunningham and composer John Cage, which saw the pair create new ways of working based on systems of chance and indeterminacy.

Within The Lock-Up’s unique history, moments of chance and indeterminacy abound. A transitory space between the misdemeanours of the streets and formal incarceration, the fates of those who entered The Lock-Up’s four walls were unpredictable and arbitrary. Moments of luck or misfortune would determine outcome — a prisoner’s treatment or mistreatment, a successful escape or a thwarted mission.

Working with systems of chance and data processing alongside original stories of Lock-Up escapees, ‘Way of Escape’ functions as an experiment. With no two presentations being the same, Christie performs the body’s attempt to obey ubiquitous but fallible systems.

‘Way of Escape’ is made with collaborative assistance from curator Belle Beasley and designer Kirsten Willis, and with the proud support of The Lock-Up, Catapult Dance Choreographic Hub, Creative Australia and Create NSW.

Performance Dates

• Thursday, 14 November, 7:00 PM
• Friday, 15 November, 7:00 PM

The Lock Up-Bar opens at 6:30 PM.

Click HERE for tickets.

About Mitchell Christie
Mitchell Christie is an independent dancer, creator, and educator. Growing up on Dharawal Country (NSW South Coast), he graduated from Newtown High School of the Performing Arts in 2012. In 2013, Mitchell moved to New York to continue his dance education at SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Dance, receiving his BFA in 2017. He now lives and works on the lands of the Gadigal and Dharug (Sydney) and is a Co-Artistic Director of Dance Makers Collective. Mitchell has professionally performed works by Merce Cunningham, Doug Varone, Aszure Barton, William Forsythe, Stijn Celis, Kevin Wynn, Fernando Melo, Ryan Mason, Chuck Wilt, Raven White, Hannah Garner, Miranda Wheen, Tra Mi Dinh, Eliza Cooper, and Emma Riches. In 2024, Mitchell became an authorised Cunningham Technique® teacher. He is also a passionate advocate for accessible art and has been developing inclusive practices for people living with and without disability to experience transformation through dance.
Special thanks to The Lock Up, Creative Australia and to Create NSW for supporting this project.

About James Hazel
James Hazel is a sound artist and researcher interested in emergent precarious practices. Hazel has worked with various dance companies and contemporary artists, such as Dancemakers Collective, Critical Path, Catapult Dance, the International Video Dance Festival of Burgundy, Sydney Dance Company, and The Western Australian Ballet. Hazel regularly collaborates with dancers Kristina Chan, Omer Backley-Astrachan, and James O’Hara.