Adam Russell-Jones: Release the Hounds

Inspired by the dance marathons of the 1920s and 30s during the Great Depression in the US and by rave culture, both contemporary and that of the Thatcher era, Release the Hounds is a ballad about the working-class dancer.

As he sways and floats on the dance floor, suspended in time, the question arises whether he is there for pleasure or to earn money. The work explores the sensual and poetic experience of being the last person on the dance floor; an abstract representation of dance as an escape from reality, but also as a means of surviving it.

Inspired by the novel RAVE by Rainald Goetz and the film They Shoot Horses Don’t They? Release the Hounds, created in 1996, follows a narrative in which survival isn't always guaranteed, yet the work remains clear: the dancer must keep dancing.

Release The Hounds premiered in January 2025 at the Sophiensæle as part of the Berlin Dance Days.