There are few theatre companies that subvert expectations and present bodies in motion quite like Branch Nebula. Air Time is experimental and absurd and punk rock. This isn’t a normal stunt show. It is medium-bending, genre-breaking, pure theatre.
—Bradley Ward, Theatre Travels 24 April 2023
About
Air Time builds on Branch Nebula’s extensive street-style work established over a decade of showcasing outstanding talent. Way back in 2004 Branch Nebula brought the virtuosity of street culture into the theatre for the first time, with Paradise City touring all over Australia and to four cities in Brazil. Next they swopped it around for the ultimate challenge to choreograph in an actual skatepark with dancers and parkourists, running and dancing amongst the skaters and BMXers in Concrete and Bone Sessions for the 2013 Sydney Festival. However, taking over a skatepark with a choreographed show wasn’t fair on local users, which is where Snake Sessions came from, an improvised show that infiltrates a skate park alongside the locals as they continue using it.
In Air Time, Branch Nebula comes full circle with a return to the theatre and a more complex and spectacular show honouring our history and using the knowledge of the artforms and subcultures informed by nearly two decades of immersing ourselves and our audiences in street-style performances.
Branch Nebula
Established in 1999 Branch Nebula is a distinct voice in Australian performance culture. We have enjoyed international success and have been presented by major cultural institutions, yet our work resists easy consumption. We are driven by a deep dissatisfaction with the hierarchies that shape the world, the structures that rank and grade, the barriers that warp and constrain. We value the devalued, spotlight the marginal, and celebrate the clefts in the concrete where the weeds push through. And we have fun with this. In the windy space between the car park and the shopping mall, in the graffitied underpass, and in the piss-stained stairwell built then abandoned, we find pockets of paradise.
We acknowledge
We acknowledge the Traditional Owners and Custodians of the unceded lands on which we work, the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. We pay our respects to First Nations Elders past and present.
We recognise that Australia was founded on the genocide and dispossession of First Nations people. We acknowledge that colonial structures and policies remain in place today and recognise the ongoing struggles of First Nations people in dismantling those structures.
The struggle to seek justice, to remember and address this and other colonised nations’ past and present is ongoing and is a necessary requirement for individual and collective healing process.
We stand in solidarity with all oppressed people around the world, and express our deep sorrow for the Palestinian people who, as we make art and perform for you today, are experiencing genocide implemented by Israel and the sustained destruction of Palestinian culture, people and land. We call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire. We encourage you to learn more and take action.
From the river to the sea, always was and always will be.
“The trouble is that once you see it, you can’t unsee it. And once you’ve seen it, keeping quiet, saying nothing, becomes as political an act as speaking out. There’s no innocence. Either way, you’re accountable.” ― Arundhati Roy
performers/devisers
Cloé Fournier (dance)
Feras Shaheen (dance)
Austin Gray (skateboard)
Tia Pitman (rollerskating)
Xavier Gilbee (BMX)
Alejandro Scarone (Parkour)
Nakula Boag (skateboard)
original performers/devisers
Austin Gray (skateboard)
Tristan Hodder (parkour)
Alex Hiam (BMX)
Jakeb Dugdell (BMX)
co-creators
Lee Wilson
Mirabelle Wouters
composer/sound designer
Phil Downing
lighting designer
Fausto Brusamolino
lighting design assistant
Chase Coussens
consultant choreographer
Marnie Palomares
production manager and special effects designer
Alejandro Rolandi
stage manager
Madelaine Osborn
produced by
Jennifer Greer Holmes
Biographies
Lee Wilson
Co-Creator
Lee is a founder and Co-Artistic Director of Branch Nebula since 1999. He graduated from University of Western Sydney, Theatre Nepean in 1991 and has been a major contributor to the independent performance and dance scene for thirty-five years as a highly regarded performer/actor and director. He is a co-creator of all Branch Nebula’s productions which have toured extensively nationally and internationally.
Lee also works as a freelance consultant and director. He was dramaturg on Nick Power’s Deejay Dancer (2022), Between Tiny Cities, Two Crews, and Cypher, he directed The Football Diaries, which toured to South Africa (2010), and was choreographer on Roslyn Oades’ I’m Your Man, Sydney Festival (2012) and Mobile States tour (2013). He was movement director on Urban Theatre Projects’ Last Highway and Back Home, both Sydney Festival productions. He has performed in the works of Shaun Parker, Kate Champion, Stalker Theatre Company, Acrobat, Legs on the Wall, Opera Australia and Sydney Theatre Company.
Mirabelle Wouters
Co-Creator
Mirabelle is a Belgian performance maker, set and lighting designer living in Sydney. She is a founding member and Co-Artistic Director of Branch Nebula, and has been a co-creator on all the company’s productions. Mirabelle has won two Helpmann Awards and a Green Room Award with the company and her design for High Performance Packing Tape was nominated for a Green Room Award.
Outside of Branch Nebula Mirabelle also works as a free-lance set, lighting and costume designer for companies and artists like Marrugeku, Urban Theatre Projects, Nick Power, Ahilan Ratnamohan, and Wade Marynowsky. Mirabelle completed an industrial design degree in 1995 at the High Institute for Architecture and Industrial Design in Antwerp and did a post-graduate in scenography at the Flemish Autonomous University Antwerp.
Phil Downing
Composer / Sound Designer
Phil started performing and recording music over 20 years ago and was first engaged to produce soundtracks for theatre through experimentation with original musical inventions. He continues composing using various music recording/editing tools, creating sounds from found objects or manipulation of surroundings and the natural environment.
Highlights include: Sound Design highlights include: Jailbaby and Ghosting The Party (Griffin), The Irresistible (Side Pony Productions), Winyanboga Yurringa, This Fella My Memory, The Visitors (Moogahlin Performing Arts), Plenty Serious Talk Talk, Stolen, Long Grass (Vicki Van Hout), Murder (Erth), Posts in the Paddock, The Piper (My Darling Patricia), Artwork, STOP-GO, High Performance Packing Tape, Crush (Branch Nebula), Falling (Alice Osbourne/ Performance Space), The Fox and the Freedom Fighters (Performance Space).
Fausto Brusamolino
Lighting Designer
Fausto is a lighting and visual artist who devises lighting and generative visuals for live performances and filming, creates his own lighting art installations, and provides visual design consultation for other artists’ artworks and exhibitions. He has lit productions in traditional venues like theatres, concert halls and art galleries, alongside less conventional locations like multi-level car parks, roof tops, large scale outdoor installations and abandoned locations. In his work, lighting and video are dynamically manipulated in real time, following, supporting, gauging, enhancing the performance and the entire space as they happen, shift and unravel during each unique show. Fausto won the APDG 2022 Award for S/Words and Unfolding for the Best Lighting Design for a Live Performance.
Chase Coussens
Lighting Design Assistant
Chase is a lighting designer and theatre technician from Dharawal land, in Wollongong, Australia. He is currently studying a Bachelor of Performance and Theatre at the University of Wollongong, majoring in Theatre Making.
Previous credits include; Prop Designer and Lighting Operator for Justified and Ancient (Wollongong University Theatre), Stage Manager, Lighting Designer and Operator for Maryland (Wollongong University Theatre), Sound and Lighting Operator for Shirley Valentine (Brand X Performance Space) and Lighting Operator for A Streetcar Named Desire (Side Door Theatre).
Cloé Fournier
Performer, Dancer
Cloé is a French-born Australian dynamic and multifaceted dance artist. She embodies a unique blend of movement within her performance and choreographic work. Cloé’s practice spans a wide range of disciplines, including dance, physical theatre, choreography, dramaturgy, directing and acting. Her work consistently challenges boundaries and explores the intersection between the abstract and the tangible, the performative and the visual. Her choreographic style is rooted in dance, but it extends into theatre, visual and martial arts, allowing her to create immersive, visceral and thought-provoking experiences. Cloé has worked with renowned companies such as Branch Nebula, Legs On The Wall, Stalker/Box of Birds and collaborated with celebrated artists like Martin del Amo, Anton, Lee Anne Litton and Alejandro Rolandi, Vicki van Hout, and Meryl Tankard. Cloé has performed at major international festivals across Australia, Asia, Europe, and North America. Cloé is passionate about works that inspire audiences to reconsider the possibilities of performance. With Branch Nebula, she has found some of the madness she was seeking. Since 2011, she has appeared in the company’s Concrete and Bone Sessions, Snake Sessions and demi-DEMO.
Alejandro Scarone
Performer, Parkour & Bboy
At just 24 years old, Alejandro has quickly made a name for himself as a professional bboy and parkour athlete, bringing skill, power, and originality to every battle and performance. Having started parkour at 16 and breaking at 18, his rapid rise reflects a rare dedication to refining his craft. Known for combining his flips with his breaking, intricate footwork, explosive power moves, and sharp freezes, he combines raw athleticism with a clean, technical style that sets him apart.
His professional credits include the national tour of Jump First, Ask Later (PYT Fairfield & Force Majeure, 2019), national tour of 360 Allstars (2024), 2023 Rap Dance 1v1 breaking champion.
This is his first show with Branch Nebula, where he showcases his full range of creative bboying and acrobatic movement.
Nakula Boag
Performer, Skater
Nakula is a young professional skateboarder from a small town located in the Northern Rivers. He has been skateboarding from the age of 10 years old and has dedicated over half of his life to the art. He has taken his skateboarding skills all around the world and has travelled to numerous countries throughout his career. He also travels all around NSW and QLD sharing and passing down his talent and knowledge of the sport to the community and youth through skate lessons and workshops. His sponsors are Street Machine skate shop, located in Byron Bay, Attic Distribution, and XLarge Clothing Australia.
Xavier Gilbee
Performer, BMX
Xavier is Air Time’s youngest performer, at just 18 years old. Xavier trains at the Queensland Institute of Sport with ambitions to represent Australia at the next Olympic Games. He also hopes to travel to the USA to take part in X Games. He’s travelled to compete in France but was taken out by an injury. Recently Xavier competed in a World Cup competition in China and placed 21st. This is his first performance with Branch Nebula.
Feras Shaheen
Performer, Dancer
Feras is an artist curious in letting his conceptual interests lead him across a variety of mediums. Using choreography, installations, visual art, film, performance, digital media, and street dance to communicate his ideas, the core of Feras’ practice is to connect and engage audiences. Holding a Bachelor of Design from Western Sydney University (2014), Feras often subverts traditional relationships between mediums to challenge audiences’ perspectives.
Born in Dubai to Palestinian parents, and moving to Western Sydney at age 11, Feras uses his practice as a way to reflect and examine how he views the world, addressing local and global issues. Winner of The Australian Ballet’s Telstra Emerging Choreographer (TEC) in 2021, Feras has performed and exhibited at Carriageworks, Venice Biennale, Pari, Kampnagel, Campbelltown Arts Centre, and Théâtre de la Ville.
Recent works include Cross Cultures, Plastic Bag, ongoing collaboration Klapping, and Forum Q. Feras is currently working with Marrugeku’s Jurrungu Ngan-ga, a collaborative production that addresses issues regarding the fear of cultural differences.
Tia Pitman
Performer, Roller-skater
Tia is a 26 year old proud Larakia woman living on the Gubbi Gubbi country (Sunshine Coast, Queensland). She had a seven-year background in gymnastics and coaching before being enveloped by rollerskating only four years ago.
Her passion for being creative and pushing the boundaries of what’s possible on rollerskates combined with her discipline make her an exciting emerging performer. Her dedication to skating also leaves room for another big love and that’s her 8 year old black German Shepard named Leo. Tia is the very first roller-skater to be in a Branch Nebula production.
Austin Gray
Performer, Skater
At 21 years of age, Austin has carried himself continuously through dire straits with persistent intensity and conviction. Now a professional skateboarder with history of ambassador videography and innumerable competitions across the country Austin lived a childhood of wonder in athleticism and creativity which lead him to pick up a skateboard at age 11. Inspired solely by his father, he developed a mass following and picked up various sponsors over the years. Typically dispersed between Guringai and Yugembah, Aussie strives for a strong connection to country and culture – but most importantly one-another. This can be demonstrated through his junior advocate role in vocational training with Skateworks Project, and current role with Songline Skateboarding in remote and rural indigenous communities by spreading positivity and education through skateboarding coaching and demonstrations.
Aussie performed in Branch Nebula’s demi-DEMO throughout Australia in 2022, rehearsed for Air Time in 2023, and developed the framework for his stand-in and lifelong friend Nakula Boag in these performances.
Marnie Palomares
Consultant Choreographer
Marnie is an independent dancer and has performed extensively nationally and internationally. She has worked for Branch Nebula, Shaun Parker & Company, Chunky Move (Gideon Obarzanek), Force Majeure, Marrugeku, Antony Hamilton, Narelle Benjamin, Martin Del Amo, Sydney Theatre Company, Kristina Chan, Nigel Jamison, Garry Stewart, Jason Pitt, Bernadette Walong, Dean Walsh and Liz Lea. Marnie is a founding member of Dance Makers Collective. Her choreographic works include Beneath the Noise in collaboration with dancer Melanie Palomares and noise artist Hirofumi Uchino, Catapult’s Propel Residency solo Tissue Girl in collaboration with High Tea with Mrs Woo designers, and dance film Home for Blacktown Arts Centre’s Balik Bayan Philippine art project.
Alejandro Rolandi
Production Manager, SFX designer
Alejandro is a multi-talented live performance artist, set designer, technical director and circus rigger with a wealth of experience. His extensive career has seen him tour nationally and internationally with small, medium and large-scale productions for some well-known Australian companies including Legs on the Wall, Strings Attached, Nick Power and Branch Nebula. His diverse skill set and experience in all aspect of performance making allows him to bring creativity, innovation, and exciting production elements to any production.
Madelaine Osborn
Stage Manager
Madelaine is a theatremaker who graduated from Charles Sturt University’s B. Communication: Theatre/Media course with Distinction and was the 2015 recipient of the Blair Milan Memorial Scholarship. Her Stage Management credits include GRLZ by Victoria Haralabidou (Development 2023), Sunshine Super Girl (2022 National Tour) Ghosting the Party by Melissa Bubnic (Griffin Theatre Company 2022), Is There Something Wrong With that Lady? by Debra Oswald (Griffin Theatre Company 2021), The Loves of Daphne and Apollo as Asst. Stage Manager (Pinchgut Opera, 2021) and Follow Me Home by Lewis Treston (ATYP, 2019 & 2021).
Madelaine is also a performer and passionate about creating work that is accessible but not always comfortable.
Jennifer Greer Holmes
Producer
Jennifer works across live performance and video, as a producer, curator and DJ. She has worked with Branch Nebula since 2019, producing High Performance Packing Tape’s UK tours, as well as demi-DEMO’s national touring and the creative development of several new works. As a producer, Jennifer has worked with First Nations led dance company Karul Projects (Gold Coast), Tina Stefanou’s 2024 Adelaide Biennial work Dance The War of Proximity, Theatre Network Australia for Australian Theatre Forum (2017), ActNow (Adelaide). In 2022/23 she was a Curatorial Associate for Sydney WorldPride and Special Projects Officer with Blacktown Arts and has worked with many arts organisations in a range of leadership roles over the last 20 years. This season of Air Time is her final work with Branch Nebula as she undertakes the role of Artistic Director / CEO at Vitalstatistix (Adelaide).
Air Time is developed with the support of the Australian Government through the Restart Investment to Sustain and Expand (RISE) Fund. This Sydney Festival Season is presented with the support of Create NSW.
