Julian Barnett

Julian Barnett (Tokyo) is a dance artist whose work has been situated worldwide. Barnett's artistic practices work collaboratively across disciplines to create performances that examine the social-political possibilities for transformation and empathy. He has been commissioned and presented by leading institutions such as Kampnagel (Hamburg, Germany), Dansateliers (Rotterdam, Netherlands), La Briqueterie (Paris, France), Hubbard Street Dance Chicago (US), Danspace Project (US), Jacob's Pillow (US), Tangent (Montreal, Canada), Performática (Mexico), International Improvisation Dance Festival (Istanbul, Turkey), i-Dance Festival (Hong Kong, China), and more. Barnett has developed a distinct movement and performance aesthetic in correspondence with influential choreographers, theatre makers, and artists over many years, notably Johannes Wieland / Staatstheater Kassel, whom he worked with for nearly ten years and whose Kurt Joos-prize winning duet "shift" was created on Barnett. He has collaborated with Steve Paxton, performing his seminal works "State" and "Satisfying Lover" at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York, US, as well as with other key figures, including Jeanine Durning, deufert & plischke, Abigail Levine, Wally Cardona, Larry Keigwin, Lar Lubovitch, Kevin Wynn, Laurel Jenkins, and Kota Yamazaki, amongst others. Barnett was a soloist for the Metropolitan Opera Ballet and performed in productions of "Samson and Delila" and "Le Sacre du Printemps," choreographed by Doug Varone. He has also performed in the dance films by  Celia Rowlson-Hall, Janessa Clark, and Tori Lawrence. 

Barnett received a prestigious New York Dance and Performance 'Bessie' Award Nomination for performance in 2018. As a danceWEB scholar at the Impulstanz Festival in Vienna, Austria, he worked with and was mentored by Canadian choreographer Benoît Lachambre. In 2015, he was awarded a US-Japan Creative Artist Fellowship, funded by the National Endowment for the Arts, which supported a three-month research project in Butoh at the Kazuo Ohno Dance Studio in Yokohama, Japan. Barnett has been a resident artist at K3 Zentrum für Choreographie in Hamburg, Germany, Springboard Danse in Montreal, Canada, The Joyce Foundation in New York, US, and the Bates Dance Festival in Maine, US. Often exploring various themes of intimacy in his works, Barnett also examines the possibilities of a 'phenomenal' body, the voice as an extension of the body, and facets of philosophy, musicology, science, and the supernatural within his body of work. Notable highlights include his performance, "Sound Memory," selected as 'Best of 2009' by Time Out New York Magazine, and his solo, "The Clean State,” which was a finalist in the Sadler’s Wells Global Dance Contest in London, UK. Barnett's duet "Blue Marble" was supported by Hamburgischen Kulturstiftung and the FUSED (France-US Exchange in Dance) program and performed in over seven different countries/contexts, including Danshallerne in Copenhagen, Denmark, Pieter Performance Space in Los Angeles, US, and the Whenever Wherever Festival in Tokyo, Japan. 

As an educator, Barnett aims to create a culture of curiosity about the intersections of dance/performance, how it can function toward social transformation, and how it can be utilized for personal and artistic growth. He has shared his practices and perspectives internationally, being a frequent teaching artist at the b12 Festival for Contemporary Dance and Performance Art in Berlin, Germany, Dance Italia in Lucca, Italy, ArtEZ University in Arnhem, Netherlands, Architanz in Tokyo, Gibney in New York, US, and more. Academically, he has been a guest faculty at The Juilliard School, California Institute for the Arts, NYU Tisch, Princeton University, SUNY Purchase, The University of Vermont, and more. Born in Japan, Barnett began as a breakdancer and continued at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts in Dance. He completed his MA in Choreography/Performance Practice at the ArtEZ University of the Arts in Arnhem, Netherlands, and his MFA in Dance at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, in conjunction with the ICI-CCN, Centre Chorégraphique National in Montpelier, France.