LIVE AT THE LOCK-UP / What Appears to Be Abundance at a Distance

Live at The Lock-Up presents a new solo performance by choreographer Zoë Bastin

WHEN: Fri, 27 November 2026

Doors: 7pm

Duration: 50 minutes

Drawing on her former experience as a runway model, Naarm choreographer Zoë Bastin examines the politics of looking, the construction of femininity, and the power relations embedded in acts of spectatorship. Moving between dance, spoken word, storytelling and lecture, What Appears to Be Abundance at a Distance asks how our bodies are shaped by the gaze of others. Blurring the boundaries between choreographic precision and unruly improvisation, the work explores the relationship between subject and object, performer and spectator, and the possibilities for reclaiming agency within the act of being seen. 

What Appears to Be Abundance at a Distance is a new solo work performed in response to The Lock-Up's architecture, exploring visibility, desire and the politics of looking. Drawing on Bastin’s background in dance, visual art and critical theory, as well as their former experience as a runway model, the work plays with the relationship between performer and audience, asking what it means to be seen, watched and interpreted by others. 

Moving between dance, spoken text, storytelling and lecture, Bastin uses the body as both subject and object of attention. The work shifts between moments of choreographic precision and improvisation, with humour and a slightly unruly relationship to the audience. Bastin is interested in how the conventions of performance, beauty and spectatorship might be disrupted, and what happens when the person being looked at starts to take control of the encounter. 

ZOË BASTIN 

Zoë Bastin (she/they) is an Australian choreographer, performer, researcher and educator whose interdisciplinary practice sits at the intersection of contemporary dance, visual art and critical theory. Their practice is interested in how bodies are shaped by the world around them — by environments, social structures, gender, power and collective behaviour. 

Zoë completed a PhD at RMIT University in 2021 on the philosophy of the body and currently lectures and supervises research projects sessionally at several universities. They are the artistic director of Zoë Bastin Dance, which creates large-scale contemporary dance performances in public space. 

Over the past decade, Zoë has presented work nationally and internationally, receiving recognition including the Melbourne Fringe Emerging Company Incubator Award for The Break (2025). As a dancer, they have undertaken residencies at Chunky Move's Minimax, Dancehouse, Bundanon and Zagreb Dance Centre, Croatia, and participated in the ATLAS Programme at ImPulsTanz, Vienna. Bastin has performed at Dancehouse, The Substation, MADA Gallery, Kings ARI, Seventh Gallery, Bus Projects and Miscellania, among other venues. 

Accessibility

The Lock-Up offers wheelchair access at the main entrance, accessible amenities, and designated disability street parking.

Limited seating is available, however, if you require a seat and there isn’t one available, please email us at info@thelockup.org.au or let a staff member know.