a hunt for treasure at the dawn of humanity
THE SANGIRAN 17 CYCLE
Prehistoric Body Theater’s ongoing cycle of dance-theater works exploring the embodiment of Homo erectus, humanity's hominid ancestor.
Close to Prehistoric Body Theater's home base in Central Java, the Sangiran UNESCO World Heritage Site has yielded some of the most important hominid fossils ever discovered. Among them is Sangiran 17, the most complete Homo erectus skull ever found, a specimen that has allowed scientists to reconstruct the face of a being who lived on the volcanic slopes of Java approximately one million years ago.
Since 2022, PBT has been developing a body of works around this investigation, each one approaching Homo erectus from a different angle, in a different context, through a different performance modality. The cycle draws on intensive research residencies at the Sangiran Museum, collaboration with local elders who discovered the original fossils, and extended embodiment investigations in Javan wilderness. New works continue to emerge as the investigation deepens.
Specimen S17. © The World Heritage Collection
WHERE IT BEGAN…
The cycle grew out of a commission by performance artist and curator Melati Suryodarmo for the Indonesia Bertutur Festival. On September 8, 2022, PBT premiered A Song for Sangiran 17 on a purpose-built outdoor stage at the iconic Borobudur Temple, Central Java.
The two-month development process included extended research at the Sangiran fossil site, meditation at excavation locations, and intensive durational investigations in Javan jungle, simulating Homo erectus behavioral patterns. That creative process opened a line of inquiry that PBT has continued to pursue across multiple works and contexts since.
S17: EREKTUSTOPIA
Site-specific outdoor performance for urban settings
Premiered April 2025 at Art Jakarta Gardens, Panggung Tugu Majapahit. Presented by Art Jakarta Gardens, supported by the Indonesian Ministry of Culture and Bakti Budaya Djarum Foundation.
Erektustopia is designed to be performed outdoors with human artifice in frame. Performers in full clay application and scientifically informed Homo erectus facial prosthetics move through changing modalities of embodiment over the course of the choreography, from a minimalist base-level consciousness attuned to gravity, posture, and expression, toward increasingly complex states. Lighting and sound open a creative palette distinct from the cycle's nature-based explorations.
A Song for Sangiran 17
Outdoor performance for natural environments
The cycle's deepest investigation. Conceived for performance in wilderness settings without technological mediation, A Song for Sangiran 17 strips away lighting, sound design, and staging to bring performers and audience into direct contact with the natural world. The work is still in active development, drawing on PBT's ongoing embodiment research and moving toward extended performances timed with natural light transitions. Performed in various iterations since 2022.
THE CYCLE CONTINUES…
New works in the Sangiran 17 Cycle are currently in development, including PBT's first indoor staging of the Homo erectus investigation. Updates to follow.