Batty Bwoy

With his outstandingly provocative solo BATTY BWOY, Norwegian-Jamaican choreographer and performer Harald Beharie brings a snappy yet electrifying exploration of queer body images to the stage. The starting point is the reappropriation of the Jamaican slang term ‘Batty Bwoy’ – originally a homophobic slur for queer men. Beharie transforms the derogatory attribution into an ambiguous creature – a being between fragility and strength, gentleness and wildness, desire and resistance. Driven by the booming sound of the progressive rock band Ring Van Möbius, a visceral choreography unfolds that tracks down, deconstructs and, at the same time, performatively embraces myths, clichés and fantasies about Black queer bodies. Beharie draws on references from Jamaican dancehall, Italian giallo films, queer voices from Norway and Jamaica, and the indomitable ‘Gully Queens’. His naked body becomes a projection surface, a provocation and a source of power.

BATTY BWOY was nominated for the Norwegian Dance Critics Award in 2022 and won the prestigious Hedda Award for Best Dance Performance in 2023. The internationally touring production is an intense invitation to question stereotypes – and to face the complexity of queer existence.