Prehistoric Body Theater is an emerging paleoart performance company based in Central Java, Indonesia. We create deep-time animal dance—a celebration of the Biological Tree of Life and humanity's shared evolutionary origin story as revealed by the fossil record. We are a collective of performing artists rooted in Indonesian traditional and experimental dance, working in consultation with paleontologists from around the world to craft a truly unique fusion of art and science storytelling.

Since 2017, we have been building Ghosts of Hell Creek, a mesmerizing dance-theater performance for mainstage theaters. This work brings to life an epic 500-million-year story of humanity's ancestral origins, culminating in the apocalyptic events of the Chicxulub asteroid impact and ensuing mass extinction of the dinosaurs. The story is told from the perspective of Acheroraptor, the last elegantly feathered raptor dinosaur, and Purgatorius, our ancient primate ancestor who miraculously survived and thrived on the first fruit as the world was born anew.

We are reaching out to our amazing supporters to help us complete the final production phase of Ghosts of Hell Creek! Your fully tax-deductible donations (thanks to our fiscal sponsor Producer Hub) will enable Prehistoric Body Theater to premiere the show on September 16 in Indonesia at the Indonesian Institute for the Arts' Large Theater, as a concluding program of our artistic director Ari Dharminalan Rudenko's Ph.D. program in performance creation studies. This show will finalize preparations for bringing the work on tour internationally. We're thrilled to announce that Prehistoric Body Theater will be performing at the prestigious Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival in the US for August 2025, and we are in talks with many presenters about continuing the tour in North America, Europe, and Asia!

Ghosts of Hell Creek is an evening-length touring production for proscenium theaters, staged like a mesmerizing diorama with an immersive clay-textured set installation inspired by the landscape from which the fossils are excavated. Dancers wear full-body clay makeup with iconic prosthetic elements, activated by a lavish ever-changing lighting design and a bassy soundtrack with undulating soundscapes & experimental gamelan percussion. All these aesthetic elements work together to tell the story in its most powerful form. The proscenium frames a portal, sparking imagination and inviting the audience on a journey into the heart of deep-time.

Since 2017, we have been prototyping this design. However, to perfect it for international touring, we need to engineer a streamlined, portable version. We also need to finalize the lighting programming and choreographic designs so that the piece is 100% ready to move!

YOUR SUPPORT WILL HELP US FINISH:

A final choreographic residency: vital for refining and perfecting our choreography, ensuring every movement is precise and powerful for the premiere.
Fabricating a tour-ready set installation: essential for creating a durable, transportable set, allowing us to bring the immersive world of "Ghosts of Hell Creek" to audiences worldwide.
Programming a tour-ready lighting design: crucial for enhancing our performance's visual impact, painting the set with light to add a captivating dimension to the storytelling.
Staging the premiere showing on September 6, which will launch the work to the world!

ABOUT THE PROJECT

In 2017, Prehistoric Body Theater artistic director Ari Rudenko joined the Hell Creek Project as an artist in residence through the Bergstrom Award for Art-Science Interface, collaborating with Burke Museum curator of vertebrate paleontology Dr. Greg Wilson Mantilla to develop Ghosts of Hell Creek by drawing inspiration directly from the renowned Hell Creek Formation.

Ari Rudenko digs up a T.rex at Hell Creek in 2017

The Prehistoric Body Theater team has been developing Ghosts of Hell Creek through dance-paleontology residencies, working with scientists from around the world, and crafting the choreography and stage presence collectively at our Nest headquarters and through immersion research in nature.

Over the last seven years, we have presented Ghosts of Hell Creek through a number of prototype performances, multiple international science conferences, been published in an Oxford University Press biology journal, and gave a TEDx Talk on the work. We also presented the work to an international audience of performance presenters and curators at the International Society for the Performing Arts (ISPA) Pitch New Works platform. Ari is now an ISPA global fellow, representing Prehistoric Body Theater.

During the pandemic, Prehistoric Body Theater crafted a 30-minute film version of the work titled Ghosts of Hell Creek: Primitive Streak which provides a delicious cinematic take on the performance without spoiling the live experience - the final live stage work is a full 90 minutes, diving even deeper into the story. All campaign donors (at any amount) will get exclusive access to watch the film!

ARI RUDENKO'S PhD at the INDONESIAN INSTITUTE FOR THE ARTS SURAKARTA

Artistic director Ari Rudenko is currently enrolled in the Performance Creation Studies Ph.D. program at Institut Seni Indonesia (ISI) Surakarta. Ari's dissertation, titled "Ghosts of Hell Creek: a Prehistoric Body Theater Paleoart Performance," explores the interdisciplinary dance-paleontology methodology and the creation process of Prehistoric Body Theater within a Javanese cultural context. The September 16 premiere performance of Ghosts of Hell Creek will be shown at the Art Institute's Large Theater, a quality proscenium theater on campus, and will mark the conclusion of Ari's Ph.D. program.

Ari's dissertation jury includes Art Institute Rector Dr. I Nyoman Sukerna, Promotor Dr. Bambang Sunarto, Co-Promotor Dr. Eko Supriyanto, Fulbright Program Director Alan H. Feinstein, and more.

DONATION GIFTS

We are offering exclusive gifts to our donors as a heart-felt thank you for your support.

All Donors (any amount): Online access to watch the Ghosts of Hell Creek: Primitive Streak film.
$250+ Donors: Personal thank you video from our team on set at the dress rehearsal and your name listed in the show credits.
$500+ Donors attending the September 16 show:
- VIP seat at the Large Theater at the Indonesian Institute for the Arts Surakarta, Central Java, Indonesia.
- VIP light dinner and afterparty with the Prehistoric Body Theater team at the Nest headquarters in Surakarta.
- Hotel information packet and assistance with booking rooms at the Central Java Culture Center, conveniently located near the performance venue.
- Listed in the show credits as a VIP supporter.
- Personalized thank you letter signed by the artistic director and principal dancers.
$500+ Donors who cannot attend the premiere:
- VIP online access to the full video documentation of the September 6 showing of Ghosts of Hell Creek.
- Listed in the show credits as a VIP supporter.
- Digital download of high-quality production photos.
- Personalized thank you letter signed by the artistic director and principal dancers.

ABOUT PREHISTORIC BODY THEATER

Prehistoric Body Theater (PBT) is an experimental art-science performance company based at the “Nest,” our collective jungle studio in Central Java, Indonesia. Our creative collective are indigenous Indonesian dancers and performing artists, steeped in traditional and ritual dance lineages from across the archipelago. We are united by a shared passion for nature conservation, creative egalitarian community building, and adventure into the unknown.

The initial concept for PBT was conceived by Ari Dharminalan Rudenko, our executive and artistic director who is originally from the US and has been based in Indonesia for the last 13 years. Ari launched the project in 2017 at the Indonesian Institute for the Arts Surakarta with our first cohort of performers. Since then, we have grown into a core creative team of 15 artists, living together and crafting the big vision for the future of the work, including vice-director Sofyan Joyo Utomo, assistant choreographer Bagus Pulung Tilamas, principle dancer Alan Iloen, and the rest of the core collective Eti Purnama Sari, Boy Mahmudi, Tirta Nopa Tarani, Widi Pramono, Eka Lutfi, Nada Soraya, Arif Pambudi, and more - check out team bios here.

Ari Rudenko is currently completing a Ph.D. in dance creation studies at the Indonesian Institute for the Arts Surakarta, writing an Indonesian language dissertation on Ghosts of Hell Creek. The September 6 performance will mark the final completion of the Ph.D. program, alongside a complete document of the creative process.

Join Us on This Journey

Your contribution will bring this ambitious project to life, allowing us to complete the final design of Ghosts of Hell Creek and embark on an international tour. Together, we can celebrate our shared evolutionary heritage and create a performance that resonates globally.

Stay Connected:

We will keep you updated with behind-the-scenes content, progress reports, and exclusive previews. You can also find us on Instagram at www.instragram.com/prehistoricbody and at Facebook at www.facebook.com/prehistoricbody.

Donate Now and Be Part of This Unique Fusion of Science and Dance

Thank you for your support!

Help Launch the Ghosts of Hell Creek Premiere!

Prehistoric Body Theater - From Indonesia to the World