Adam Russell-Jones: Release the Hounds
Witness a performance of dance as an escape from reality – but also as a means of surviving it – in this depiction of dancing through times of crisis.
Set on the dance floor of the performer’s psyche – reminiscent of a ballroom or the basement of a nightclub – the spectacle depicts a man who can’t stop dancing, exploring the sensual and poetic experience of being the last person on the dance floor.
Inspired by the dance marathons of the 1920s and 1930s during the Great Depression in the US and rave culture of both contemporary and Thatcher-eras, Release the Hounds is a ballad of the working-class dancer. As he sways on the dance floor, the question arises as to whether he is there for pleasure or payoff.
Inspired by the novel RAVE by Rainald Goetz and the 1969 film They Shoot Horses Don’t They?, Release the Hounds follows a narrative in which one doesn’t always make ends meet, but in which the work remains clear: the dancer must keep dancing.
Adam Russell-Jones is a UK-born artist based in Berlin. He trained at Elmhurst School for Dance and the Royal Ballet School, and danced for the Stuttgart Ballet and subsequently for the Nederlands Dans Theater. Since 2022, he has been a freelance artist, performing globally and developing a solo performance practice.
Release the Hounds premiered in Berlin during Tanztage at Sophiensaele in January 2025.
Need to know
This performance features loud noises/music and flashing lights.
Latecomers may not be admitted.
Choreography, performance: Adam Russell-Jones
Sound design: Moritz Haas
Light design: Emilio Cordero
Creative production: Leona Tiemessen
Artistic advisory: Eugene Yiu Nam Cheung
Reviews
‘a loud and subtle testimony to the despair and ecstasy of dancing’tanzschreiber
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For your visit
This event is held at the Purcell Room Southbank Centre
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