SKIN
Renae Shadler & Collaborators, with Roland Walter (Germany/Australia)
Presenting Supporter: The Parachute Fund
Touch // Transformation // Relation
Every body tells its story through the skin.
Constantly shifting through contact, the skin transforms—between bodies, and in its exchange with the earth, whose surface we are changing ever faster in the Anthropocene.
Performed by Roland Walter, a dancer with full-body spastic paralysis, and Renae Shadler, a non-disabled choreographer, SKIN creates a universe where their distinctly different bodies move toward one another. Through touch, habitat, and imagination, they develop a shared movement language inspired by sea anemones, liquid states, and the shifting textures of the earth.
This duet is not about access, but excess—a space where multiple lived experiences coexist. Between contraction and expansion, Walter and Shadler explore new ways of relating, dissolving the idea of “more” or “less” able bodies. SKIN becomes a meditation on contact and transformation—on how our environment both shapes us and is shaped by us.
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Artist Bio
Renae Shadler & Collaborators, with Roland Walter
Germany/Australia
Renae Shadler is an Australian choreographer, performer and researcher based in Berlin who experiences her life and work as a web of interrelations. Since 2015, she has been developing her Worlding choreographic practice, which seeks to dissolve the perceived border between internal and external processes, between bodies and worlds.
Her work spans diverse contexts: from dance on stage and major festivals, to museums and outdoor public engagement projects. Alongside performances, she has created lectures, the Worlding podcast series, and the ongoing knowledge lab Moving across Thresholds, which hosts online/live gatherings and festival events.
As founder of Renae Shadler & Collaborators, she has presented and developed work at venues such as Dancehouse (Australia), Palais de Tokyo (France), Tanzhaus Zürich (Switzerland), Radialsystem and HELLERAU (Germany), among others.
She is a recipient of the George Fairfax Memorial Award and the Marten Bequest Theater Fellowship. SKIN — her duet with Roland Walter, a performer with spastic paralysis — was selected for Perform Europe 2024/25, Tanzplattform Deutschland 2022, and Aerowaves 2021.
Roland Walter was born in Magdeburg, Germany, in 1963 with a lack of oxygen, which caused his spastic paralysis. Walter lives with full-time assistance in Berlin. In 2010 Roland started working as an artist. As a performer he experiments with his body and works with artists worldwide, showing the audience a change of perspective. Roland also holds lectures and workshops in schools. So far Roland has worked and researched in Berlin at Theaterhaus Mitte and in the Sophiensaele, among others. With his paralysed body he fascinates the audience.
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Venue
823 Seymour St, Vancouver, BC
Showtimes & Tickets
Standard: $39 // Generous: $59
Online
Digital Tickets: $29
Accessibility
Highly visual, no speaking
Relaxed Environment on Feb 4
Click here to open SKIN’s Access Guide (pdf)
Credits
Concept & Performance Renae Shadler, Roland Walter Artistic Director & Choreographer Renae Shadler Sound Design Samuel Hertz Set & Costume Design Judith Förster Light Design Emese Csornai Creative Companion Mirjam Sögner Light Technician Hanna Kritten Tangsoo Tour Manager Rania Mavriki Production ehrliche arbeit – freelance office for culture Distribution Dörte Wolter
Supported by the National Performance Network — International Guest Performance Fund for Dance, funded by the Minister of State for Culture and Media Production of Renae Shadler Collaborators with Roland Walter in collaboration with Ehrliche Arbeit, freelance office for culture Funded by the Hauptstadtkulturfonds, Aktion Mensch, Asia-Europe Foundation and Goethe-Institut – Australia Creative residences Lucy Guerin Inc / WXYZ Studios and Bunbury Regional Art Gallery (Australia). With friendly support from Radialsystem, Theaterhaus Berlin and Tanzfabrik Berlin