|
|
  
|
Description
What The Critics Say
Performance History
Choreography & Concept
Graeme Murphy
Creative Associate
Janet Vernon
Music
Matthew Hindson
Set
Gerard Manion
Costume
Akira Isogawa
Lighting
Damien Cooper
Duration
80 minutes [no interval]
Ensemble
16–18 dancers
Description
Ellipse reunites three distinctive designers with whom Graeme Murphy successfully collaborated on the 1999 production Air and other invisible forces. They are Australian painter Gerard Manion, Japanese-born Australian fashion designer Akira Isogawa and lighting designer Damien Cooper.
Yet as always with the work of Graeme Murphy, it is the music that drives the inspiration, becoming the pivot upon which the choreographer spins his distinctive stamp. For Ellipse, Murphy works for the first time with the music of prolific young Australian composer Matthew Hindson. Increasingly recognised for his outstanding achievements, Hindson was the Sydney Symphony Orchestra's composer of the year in 2000 and Musica Viva's featured composer in 2002.
Following its world premiere at the Sydney Opera House in May 2002, Ellipse has been performed in regional centres in Australia and in New Zealand, Noumea and Bangkok, Thailand. In 2004 the Company's touring of Ellipse includes a 10-city tour of the United States and dates in Perth and Bunbury, Western Australia.
Ellipse places the spotlight firmly on Sydney Dance Company's finely-honed ensemble of dancers as it takes its place in an evolving repertoire of intensely theatrical works.
Ellipse reunites three distinctive designers with whom Graeme Murphy successfully collaborated on the 1999 production Air and other invisible forces. They are Australian painter Gerard Manion, Japanese-born Australian fashion designer Akira Isogawa and lighting designer Damien Cooper.
Yet as always with the work of Graeme Murphy, it is the music that drives the inspiration, becoming the pivot upon which the choreographer spins his distinctive stamp. For Ellipse, Murphy works for the first time with the music of prolific young Australian composer Matthew Hindson. Increasingly recognised for his outstanding achievements, Hindson was the Sydney Symphony Orchestra's composer of the year in 2000 and Musica Viva's featured composer in 2002.
Following its world premiere at the Sydney Opera House in May 2002, Ellipse has been performed in regional centres in Australia and in New Zealand, Noumea and Bangkok, Thailand. In 2004 the Company's touring of Ellipse includes a 10-city tour of the United States and dates in Perth and Bunbury, Western Australia.
Ellipse places the spotlight firmly on Sydney Dance Company's finely-honed ensemble of dancers as it takes its place in an evolving repertoire of intensely theatrical works.
Venues, Dates & Bookings
What The Critics Say
The work confirms that Murphy is one of Australia’s most flamboyant and startling artists and also one of the country’s most theatrical collaborators.
MICHELLE POTTER, THE CANBERRA TIMES, 2002
[Murphy] gives us a space, music, light, forms and movement, then fuses and animates them with his typically generous spirit... it overflows with emotion, drama... above all, it expresses a deep commitment to matters human and the connectedness of things.
DEBORAH JONES, THE AUSTRALIAN, 2002
Murphy excels at loving and/or daring duets… in the quieter moments [Murphy] creates beautiful phrases and striking sculptural images.
VALERIE LAWSON, THE AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW, 2002
Ellipse is powered and shaped by cutting edge classical music: the work of the astonishingly prolific and innovative Sydney composer Matthew Hindson. And what action. Murphy's company is shown to magnificent advantage.
DANCE AUSTRALIA, 2002
Most of all, Ellipse is glorious movement… the audience, gasping in astonishment, will be locked in a gravitational orbit around seven pieces of densely crafted dance that emerge, seemingly effortlessly and organically, in response to the music of Matthew Hindson.
DRAMATICONLINE.COM, 2002
It revels in the intoxicating power of bodies in space with music orchestrated by a master of the theatre.
DEBORAH JONES, THE AUSTRALIAN, 2002
Murphy has created a unique beauty. Uniqueness is a status difficult to cultivate free from the lashings of pretension. Originality that springs from honesty and risk taking is what makes Murphy the celebrated choreographer he is.
VANNESSA MCCAUSLAND, DRUM MEDIA, 2002
Ellipse is Graeme Murphy and Sydney Dance Company at their best. Catch it if you can.
SUNDAY TELEGRAPH, 2002
Murphy’s visceral dance erupts onto the stage with relentless brute force. Murphy and the dancers have put themselves to the test and the results are breathtaking.
THE AGE, MELBOURNE, 2002
Inventively choreographed and sensitively performed… Movement so seamless it makes your spirits lift with joy.
JILL SYKES, THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD, 2002
Eclectic, in fact electric, the splendid troupe of 18 dancers effortlessly shifted between ballet, gymnastics, martial arts and contemporary modern dance...Ellipse left the gasping audience saying ‘stupendous!’
Philadelphia Citypaper, 2004
The first few moments of Ellipse conjure up circuses, Jiri Kylian and Martha Graham. But it soon becomes clear that it is best just to relax and go along for a joyous, wildly imaginative ride that is nothing but pure Graeme Murphy.
Jennifer Dunning, New York Times, 2004
Breathtaking movement and a rich, original soundtrack combine to exhilarating effect in Graeme Murphy's Ellipse...Wide-ranging in style, Ellipse combines popular dance and polished neoclassical steps with athletic feats that had the audience gasping with admiration.
Naomi Millett, The West Australian, 2004
Performance History
4–25 May 2002
Opera Theatre, Sydney Opera House
Sydney Australia
28 May–1 June 2002
The Playhouse, Canberra Theatre Centre
Canberra, Australia
18–22 June 2002
Playhouse,
Queensland Performing Arts Centre
Brisbane, Australia
26–29 June 2002
Playhouse, The Arts Centre
Melbourne, Australia
11–14 Sept 2002
Parramatta Riverside Theatre
Sydney, Australia
17–18 Sept 2002
IMB Theatre
Wollongong, Australia
23–24 Sept 2002
Araluen Arts Centre
Alice Springs, Australia
27–28 Sept 2002
Darwin Performing Arts Centre
Darwin, Australia
9–10 Sept 2003
Pilbeam Theatre
Rockhampton, Australia
12 Sept 2003
Gladstone Entertainment Centre
Gladstone, Australia
18–20 Sept 2003
Tjibaou Arts & Cultural Centre
Noumea, New Caledonia
24–29 Sept 2003
The Civic, The Edge
Auckland, New Zealand
1–4 Oct 2003
The Opera House
Wellington, New Zealand
5–7 Feb 2004
Annenberg Center for the Arts
Philadelphia, United States
13 Feb 2004
Concert Hall, Performing Arts Center
Purchase College
Purchase, United States
14 Feb 2004
Staller Center for the Arts, SUNY
Stony Brook, United States
17–22 Feb 2004
The Joyce Theater
New York City, United States
24 Feb 2004
Gaillard Auditorium
Charleston, United States
27–28 Feb 2004
Fox Theater
St. Louis, United States
2–3 Mar 2004
Aspen District Theater
Aspen, United States
6 Mar 2004
Johnson County Community College
Kansas City, United States
9 Mar 2004
Jackson Hall, Mondavi Center
Davis, United States
12–13 Mar 2004
Memorial Theater
Stanford University
Palo Alto, United States
16 Oct 2003
Bangkok Festival of Dance & Music
Thailand Cultural Centre
Bangkok, Thailand
27 July 2004
Bunbury Entertainment Centre
Bunbury, Australia
21–24 July 2004
His Majesty's Theatre
Perth, Australia
4–25 May 2002
Opera Theatre, Sydney Opera House
Sydney Australia
28 May–1 June 2002
The Playhouse, Canberra Theatre Centre
Canberra, Australia
18–22 June 2002
Playhouse,
Queensland Performing Arts Centre
Brisbane, Australia
26–29 June 2002
Playhouse, The Arts Centre
Melbourne, Australia
11–14 Sept 2002
Parramatta Riverside Theatre
Sydney, Australia
17–18 Sept 2002
IMB Theatre
Wollongong, Australia
23–24 Sept 2002
Araluen Arts Centre
Alice Springs, Australia
27–28 Sept 2002
Darwin Performing Arts Centre
Darwin, Australia
9–10 Sept 2003
Pilbeam Theatre
Rockhampton, Australia
12 Sept 2003
Gladstone Entertainment Centre
Gladstone, Australia
18–20 Sept 2003
Tjibaou Arts & Cultural Centre
Noumea, New Caledonia
24–29 Sept 2003
The Civic, The Edge
Auckland, New Zealand
1–4 Oct 2003
The Opera House
Wellington, New Zealand
5–7 Feb 2004
Annenberg Center for the Arts
Philadelphia, United States
13 Feb 2004
Concert Hall, Performing Arts Center
Purchase College
Purchase, United States
14 Feb 2004
Staller Center for the Arts, SUNY
Stony Brook, United States
17–22 Feb 2004
The Joyce Theater
New York City, United States
24 Feb 2004
Gaillard Auditorium
Charleston, United States
27–28 Feb 2004
Fox Theater
St. Louis, United States
2–3 Mar 2004
Aspen District Theater
Aspen, United States
6 Mar 2004
Johnson County Community College
Kansas City, United States
9 Mar 2004
Jackson Hall, Mondavi Center
Davis, United States
12–13 Mar 2004
Memorial Theater
Stanford University
Palo Alto, United States
16 Oct 2003
Bangkok Festival of Dance & Music
Thailand Cultural Centre
Bangkok, Thailand
27 July 2004
Bunbury Entertainment Centre
Bunbury, Australia
21–24 July 2004
His Majesty's Theatre
Perth, Australia