Branch Nebula’s Air Time at the Seymour Centre

Halfpipes, blunts, benihanas, verts and some fully sick gnarly riding are just some of what you can expect in Air Time when performance group Branch Nebula introduce a group of Australia’s best skaters, BMX, dancers and parkourists to the Seymour Centre in January.

Teaming these street skills, usually performed unsupervised outdoors, has been the vision of the Sydney-based group’s co-director and choreographer Lee Wilson for over 35 years as he and professional partner Mirabelle Wouters have presented their work across Europe, Asia, South America and Australia.

“Skaters and street-style artists will grab whatever is around and work with obstacles and create them, whether it is garbage bins, park benches, couches, planks of wood, so we bring all these things into the space and build obstacles and then smash them down and build new ones,” Lee Wilson, co-director, Branch Nebula said.

“In Air Time there are definitely some through lines and one of them is the integration of street styles, BMX, parkour and dance.

“It really draws you into the action in a visceral way.”

Air Time shows its evolution in its second time around

Air Time was originally commissioned by Merringong Theatre (Wollongong) for its 2023 season and this will be the second time around for the production.

“This is a progression through many shows,” Wilson said.

“We have made many full-length shows and in each one we explore different techniques and bring them into the next one.”

Finding the artists has meant the Branch Nebula has had to rely on an extensive network of people with the different and specialised skills to bring their shows to fruition.

“There are many dancers around, but when you start looking for more specialised artists like skating and BMX and parkour and street dancers, often they cant do it full-time as they have other jobs as well,” Wilson said.

“Now I have a bit more of a network, so I will ask people that we have worked with before or ask friends if they can recommend someone.

“If someone gets injured they are really hard to replace, and it is very risky doing this kind of work and it is so specialised.”

Adapting to the indoors of the Seymour Centre 

Adapting this show to an indoor theatre also has not been without its challenges as not only steel and wood ramps have to be adapted a stage, but the placement and spacing must also allow for the precision and visual elements that make this show such a spectacular event.

“You don’t see performances in a theatre this fast, and you can’t even compare it to a circus,” Wilson said.

“There is this flowing movement that is continually spinning through space, and when you put bodies into the mix it creates an incredible sync and tension.

“We do explore different kinds of movement quality and create interactions between one form and another, like you might have a skater and a dancer doing a duet, and all the movement is based on what they can create together.”

The sound and atmosphere of Air Time

Helping to make this event even more extraordinary is the introduction of the element of sound through the work of sound artist and composer Phil Downing.

“All the ramps and everything are miked up and this creates an acoustic space so that all footsteps or wheels over wood are amplified and surround the audience with sound,” Wilson said.

“The sound comeback and creates a memory of what has happened and romanticises the skills for the audience.”

In all there will be six performers on stage at the Seymour shows: a skater, a roller skater, a street dancer, a contemporary dancer, a parkourist and a B-Boy.

We’ve all seen people performing this skills on the street or in parks, but Air Time is an opportunity to see the skills performed at the highest levels in a controlled environment.

Air Time is at the Seymour Centre 7-11 January 2025.