Resonance: processing grief and finding joy through movement

Posted on 7 October, 2025

Twenty years ago, dance artist and choreographer Tanja Liedtke developed a daring new work at Gorman Arts Centre. Just two years later, in 2007, her life was tragically cut short at age 29 on the eve of her ground-breaking appointment as Artistic Director of Sydney Dance Company.

My brother, choreographer James Batchelor, and I were in the audience of that 2005 performance. We watched transfixed as Twelfth Floor premiered within the same black box theatre where we also performed as part of the professional dance company for young people, Quantum Leap, at QL2 Dance.

“The quirky theatricality of that work and the incredible cast of dancers linger vividly in my mind,” recalls James ahead of the world premier of his new choreographic work, Resonance, which has been created in conversation with the legacy of Tanja Liedtke with the support of the Tanja Liedtke Foundation.

With over ten professional works staged in Canberra, including renowned works Shortcuts to Familiar Places and Hyperspace, audiences will likely be familiar with James’ choreography.

“Resonance is without a doubt the most significant work I have been part of and had the honour of leading,” James shares. “Both for the weight of history that it speaks to, and the joy it brings in seeing many dancers of all different ages on stage together.”

Credit: @wendellt.

The cast is made up of dancers who worked closely with Tanja including collaborators in Twelfth Floor Amelia McQueen, Anton, and Kristina Chan; contemporaries of my brother and I, such as fellow Quantum Leap alum Chloe Chignell; and, unique to each city the work is performed in, a cohort of young dance artists on the precipice of professional practice.

In this regard, Resonance is an intimate act of choreographic transmission, one where movement and the language of dance can facilitate enduring connection and growth across generations.

“The fact that we hold our history in the body makes dance such a powerful medium,” James adds. “Resonance has moved me for its capacity to process stories and emotion – from grief to joy we can be taken by it with the sheer force that it creates.”

Having seen Resonance at Sydney Dance Company ahead of its transfer to Melbourne, I wholeheartedly agree with this assessment. The emotional tone of the work is well balanced, from the heaviness of loss to the lightness of new and renewed connection.

The work is also mesmeric, weaving James’ signature exploration of phasing and looping movement that suspends and transcends time with that of Tanja, movement inherently theatrical, precise and humorous. The union of these two approaches yields something dynamic, expansive, and deeply moving.

Upcoming performances at the Canberra Theatre Centre on Friday 10 and Saturday 11 October will conclude the Australian tour of Resonance.

“Being from Canberra myself, it means a lot to me to present my work here,” says James. “I value having an ongoing relationship with the artistic community and audiences in our region. I am so thankful for the trajectory of my work in Europe and all I have learned there. I hope to bring dance in Canberra into a national and even global conversation.”

Both James and I’s artistic careers are tied deeply to Canberra, and in particular to QL2 Dance. We both remain connected to the organisation years after graduating from its programs, James as a returning choreographer and myself as the current Development Manager.

“I grew up in Quantum Leap,” James explains, “so there is always going to be that resonance for me in coming back and inviting dancers from the next generation to participate in Resonance. To be able to dance alongside them in these performances is even more special for me.”

Credit: @wendellt.

I am also fortunate to be a guest artist in the Canberra season of Resonance, and this week I rehearsed with four dancers from QL2 Dance in the same black box theatre where Twelfth Floor was staged all those years ago.

“It’s very special that this work is coming to Canberra,” one of the Quantum Leapers shares.

“Especially because Tanja spent so much time here at Gorman Arts Centre. I feel very privileged to perform in Resonance and also to have rehearsed the work in a space Tanja was in. I not only have the movement lineage but the connection through the walls and tarkett as well.”

At its core, Resonance is about relationships that span generations and lifetimes, ones that grow together through dance. The fact that we can dance together, with all of our shared history and experiences, contributes to that story.

“Resonance is undeniably moving,” James concludes.

“What you walk away with is the pure joy of dancing and its capacity for connection and storytelling between generations.”

Feature image: Morgan Hickinbotham.