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Description
What The Critics Say
Performance History
Choreography & Concept
Graeme Murphy
Music
Carl Vine
[commissioned score]
Featuring The Sydney
Gay and Lesbian Choir
Set
George Freedman /
Ralph Rembel
Lighting
Damien Cooper
Costume
Richard de Chazal
Video Imagery
Martin Crouch /
Norah Mulroney
Duration
90 minutes [no interval]
Ensemble
16-18 dancers
Description
The Greek poet Pindar (6th century BC) was renowned for his Odes celebrating victors of the games at Delphi, Nemea, Isthmus of Corinth and Olympia. In these victory odes, sung by a choir of men and boys, Pindar names the great god-hero Heracles as the founder of the Olympic Games, and the ultimate champion to which all others aspire.
In 2000, the Sydney 2000 Olympic Arts Festival and the Brisbane Festival commissioned Sydney Dance Company to create a work to celebrate the Olympics. Inspired by the heroes of Greek mythology, Murphy fittingly created a latter-day Olympic Ode, honouring the heroes of ancient mythology in the manner of Pindar.
Mythologia premiered on 19 August 2000 at the Capitol Theatre in Sydney. An epic dance-drama on an operatic scale, it quickly became the hit of the festival. Sydney Dance Company's 18 dancers were joined on stage by the 60-voice Sydney Gay and Lesbian Choir. Carl Vine, a long-time collaborator of Greame Murphy, created the epic score, and George Freedman created the stark minimalist set which provided a counterpoint to Richard de Chazal's opulent costumes.
The Greek poet Pindar (6th century BC) was renowned for his Odes celebrating victors of the games at Delphi, Nemea, Isthmus of Corinth and Olympia. In these victory odes, sung by a choir of men and boys, Pindar names the great god-hero Heracles as the founder of the Olympic Games, and the ultimate champion to which all others aspire.
In 2000, the Sydney 2000 Olympic Arts Festival and the Brisbane Festival commissioned Sydney Dance Company to create a work to celebrate the Olympics. Inspired by the heroes of Greek mythology, Murphy fittingly created a latter-day Olympic Ode, honouring the heroes of ancient mythology in the manner of Pindar.
Mythologia premiered on 19 August 2000 at the Capitol Theatre in Sydney. An epic dance-drama on an operatic scale, it quickly became the hit of the festival. Sydney Dance Company's 18 dancers were joined on stage by the 60-voice Sydney Gay and Lesbian Choir. Carl Vine, a long-time collaborator of Greame Murphy, created the epic score, and George Freedman created the stark minimalist set which provided a counterpoint to Richard de Chazal's opulent costumes.
Venues, Dates & Bookings
What The Critics Say
Sydney Dance Company’s Mythologia is a grandiose fantasia on the founding of the first Olympic Games and once again in his inimitable theatrical style, artistic director Graeme Murphy revels in the glories of the human body and the athletic feats his dancers can achieve ... If, like the Olympics, Mythologia is about heroes, then SDC's phenomenal, generous dancers are mine.
LEE CHRISTOFIS, THE AUSTRALIAN, 2000
...a lavish-looking interpretation of ancient Greek odes linked to the Olympic Games… [Mythologia] is sure to impress with its opulent sets, intricate costuming and deep-seated theatricality...
CHELSEA CLARK, DAILY TELEGRAPH, 2000
Murphy’s genius overwhelms the eyes, his acrobatic fluidity and inventiveness are spellbinding…he has unequivocally earned the right to be ranked as a modern genius of the art of dance and theatre.
MICHAEL MONTGOMERY, DANCE EUROPE, 2000
Heracles becomes the central figure in a dance work that entwines myths of the past with some current plot and character variations to suit Murphy’s telling…breaks new ground in its feisty presentation
JILL SYKES, THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD, 2000
Performance History
18–26 August 2000
Capitol Theatre
Sydney, Australia
1–7 Oct 2000
Lyric Theatre, QPAC
Brisbane, Australia
18–26 August 2000
Capitol Theatre
Sydney, Australia
1–7 Oct 2000
Lyric Theatre, QPAC
Brisbane, Australia