Performances

Cuatro

March 27 - April 6
Somos
Neilson Studio, Sydney Dance Company
October 22 - November 1
Continuum
Roslyn Packer Theatre, Walsh Bay
December 3 - December 13
New Breed
Carriageworks, Eveleigh

Four films by Pedro Greig, choreographed by Rafael Bonachela.

Cuatro 1, 2 , 3 and 4 – Live now, free to watch below!

“Sydney Dance Company and Sydney Symphony Orchestra’s collaboration on a set of intimate, contemplative miniatures is the get-together you have when you’re not getting together.”
Deborah Jones, The Australian

“An uplifting and joyful experience as four exceptional dancers from Sydney Dance Company and four virtuosic musicians from the Sydney Symphony Orchestra have come together, separately, to make this new work, a creative response to the emotional impact of the global pandemic.”
Rafael Bonachela, Artistic Director

Repertoire Archive

2024

Love Lock
Choreography / Melanie Lane
Inspired by the power of love stories, Melanie Lane’s bold new work Love Lock deconstructs love songs to create a folk dance that celebrates the fantasies and realities of love.
Duration: 25 minutes
momenta – Contemporary Dance Work
Choreography / Rafael Bonachela
A journey into the poetry and physicality of human bonds.
Duration: 75 minutes

2023

The Shell, A Ghost, The Host & The Lyrebird
Choreography / Marina Mascarell
This piece poses many questions: the body's meaning and its capacity to transform; the relationship with technology, and the connection with nature.
Duration: 26 minutes
I Am-Ness
Choreography / Rafael Bonachela
I Am-ness calls for the convergence of the moving body and creative mind, charting a world in flux where simplicity dominates, and expectations are subverted.
Duration: 15 minutes
Somos
Choreography / Rafael Bonachela
Meaning “we are” in Spanish, Somos features a cascade of intimate solos, duets and trios with a distinct Spanish flavour.
Duration: 50 minutes

2022

Summer
Choreography / Rafael Bonachela
An uplifting new work from Rafael Bonachela, capturing the lightness and positivity of new beginnings. With a score by Australian composer Kate Moore, recorded by the Australian String Quartet and striking costumes by the masters of colour Romance Was Born, Summer will have your spirits soaring.
Duration: 16 minutes
The Universe is Here
Choreography / Stephanie Lake
Fusing movement and music, The Universe is Here brings blistering light to the stage and a fizzing glimpse of a haunted dreamscape. Poetic, fresh and forceful, Stephanie Lake's work is intricate and dynamic dance that hits you in the solar plexus.
Duration: 35 minutes

2021

Impermanence
Choreography / Rafael Bonachela
A visceral and thrilling exploration of the juxtaposition of beauty and devastation, this full-length work features a new score full of emotional power from Grammy Award-winning composer Bryce Dessner performed in association with the Australian String Quartet.
Duration: 65 minutes

2020

Cuatro
Choreography / Rafael Bonachela
Four dancers. Four musicians. Four Films.
Duration: 14 minutes

2019

Us 50
Choreography / Gideon Obarzanek
Us 50 is a grand-scale work by Gideon Obarzanek featuring 50 performers made up of past dancers that have graced our stage, current Company dancers, and members of our community.
Duration: 40 minutes
Neon Aether
Choreography / Gabrielle Nankivell
Gabrielle Nankivell’s premiere, Neon Aether, is a theatrical adventure into the infinite unknown. Inspired by science fiction and outer space, audiences will be transported into a vivid, ethereal world beyond the clouds.
Duration: 25 minutes
Cinco
Choreography / Rafael Bonachela
Be moved by a “dazzling technical display of flexibility” (★★★★, Sydney Morning Herald) in the world premiere of Rafael Bonachela’s Cinco. Watch “elastic dynamic dancing” (The Daily Telegraph) from our award-winning dancers, in delicate costumes by revered fashion designer Bianca Spender, set to Alberto Ginastera’s soaring String Quartet No.2.
Duration: 26 minutes

2018

ab [intra] – Contemporary Dance Work
Choreography / Rafael Bonachela
ab [intra],​ meaning ‘from within’ in Latin is ‘an exploration of our primal instincts, our impulses and our visceral responses’, says choreographer Rafael Bonachela. From tenderness to turmoil, ​ab [intra]​ is a journey of intense human existence that will command your attention.
Duration: 70 minutes
Forever & Ever
Choreography / Antony Hamilton
Set to a sonically stimulating score by The Presets’ Julian Hamilton, Forever & Ever fuses together a killer mix of dance, techno, high fashion and vivid lighting to hypnotic effect.
Duration: 36 minutes

2017

Ocho
Choreography / Rafael Bonachela
Explosive and powerful, Ocho, is "sexy, athletic choreography…" (Time Out Sydney), showcasing the dancers' virtuosity. Fusing a brutalist industrial dreamscape with a surging electronic score by Nick Wales that features haunting vocals by Aboriginal singer ​Rrawun Maymuru​ of the Mangalili clan, ​Ocho explores​ the infinite connections that exist between us all.
Duration: 40 minutes
Full Moon
Choreography / Cheng Tsung-lung
Cheng Tsung-lung's Full Moon harnesses the power of the moon and the mythology and poetry of mankind to thrilling effect.
Duration: 38 minutes
WOOF
Choreography / Melanie Lane
WOOF​ generates variations of collective actions that speak from matters of the heart. In an imagined physical future, stealing from classical dances, romantic paintings and pop culture, a re-invention of community takes place. In dialogue with Clark’s bold musical score, ​WOOF​ relentlessly forges a duality of instability and empowerment, harnessing the fantasy of a post-human collective spirit.
Duration: 20 minutes

2016

Lux Tenebris
Choreography / Rafael Bonachela
Lux Tenebris​ explores light and darkness with fiercely physical movement and deep, electronic beats by composer Nick Wales.
Duration: 40 minutes

2015

Frame of Mind
Choreography / Rafael Bonachela
Frame of Mind features a dramatic contemporary-classical soundtrack by Bryce Dessner (from American hit rock band The National), recorded by San Francisco’s virtuosic Kronos Quartet. ​Frame of Mind w​on four Helpmann Awards in 2015 – Best Choreography, Best Dance Work, Best Male Dancer and Best Female Dancer – in its critically acclaimed premiere season.
Duration: 35 minutes

2014

Wildebeest
Choreography / Gabrielle Nankivell
Gabrielle Nankivell’s eloquent creation, Wildebeest, showcases the power of dancers as individuals and strength en masse. Moody and animalistic, it’s backed by a stormy and industrial score by Luke Smiles.
Duration: 30 minutes

2010

6 Breaths
Choreography / Rafael Bonachela
Since the 2010 premiere of Rafael Bonachela’s award-winning 6 Breaths the work has toured to New York, London, Barcelona, the Venice Biennale in Italy and the prestigious Movimentos Festival in Germany. A symphony of dance, music by Italian composer Ezio Bosso and costume design by Josh Goot, this emotive work will take your breath away.
Duration: 40 minutes

Information

Four dancers. Four musicians. Four Films. Cuatro

A four-part online work, created in isolation, as eight virtuosic artists respond to a new way of life.

A collaboration between Sydney Dance Company and the Sydney Symphony OrchestraCuatro was conceived and created through the lens and screens of our new world.

Dancers and musicians began the collaborative process online, working with Rafael Bonachela and creative director and film-maker Pedro Greig to conceive and realise these four unique works, responding to this extraordinary period in time. Online discussions and sharing of music took place over a number of weeks, with each element finally filmed in isolation at the Sydney Dance Company Studios in Ultimo, Sydney.

All four films are free to view and enjoy.

Cuatro 1 Released: Live, watch above
Cuatro 2 Released: Live, watch above
Cuatro 3 Released: Live, watch above
Cuatro 4 Released: Live, watch above

With Thanks To

Bianca Spender
SUNSTUDIOS Sydney

 

Keep Australia dancing!

The love and support from our dance community is helping us to keep the Company moving forward during these challenging times. Cancelled performances and loss of ticket sales have had a huge impact on Sydney Dance Company.

Facing the biggest challenge in our five decades of defining contemporary dance in Australia, we are finding ways to respond and to make work.

Cuatro is for you, our audience, our community, our most important collaborator.

Now more than ever, if you are able, a gift of any size will truly have a transformational effect.

Follow @SydneyDanceCo and #SDCKeepDancing on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Creatives

 

Produced and Directed by: Pedro Greig
Choreography: Rafael Bonachela

 

Cuatro 1
Dancer: Charmene Yap
Musician: Diana Doherty, oboe
Music: Heinz Hollinger, Sonata for solo oboe, I. Präludium

 

Cuatro 2
Dancer: Davide di Giovanni
Musician: Andrew Haveron, violin
Music: Niccolò Paganini, 24 Caprices for Solo Violin, Op.1: No. 11 in C

 

Cuatro 3
Dancer: Juliette Barton
Musician: Umberto Clerici, cello
Music: Johann Sebastian Bach, Suite No. 1 in G major, BWV 1007: IV. Sarabande

 

Cuatro 4
Dancer: Chloe Leong
Musician: Emma Sholl, flute
Music: Claude Debussy, Syrinx 

 

Costume Design: Bianca Spender
Set and Lighting Design: Pedro Greig
Audio Engineer: Guy Harding
Cameras and Lighting: Kindly supplied by SUNSTUDIOS Sydney

 

Media Reviews

“It lifts the spirits to find new work…Charmene Yap is as elegantly eloquent as ever.” – Sydney Morning Herald

“Choreography was…liquid…its qualities of introspection were deeply moving… the filming was exceptional with its shadows and close-up shots. Barton was technically brilliant.” – Michelle Potter, dance critic

“Live performance can be paused…you can’t stop creativity.” – Broadsheet

“It’s three minutes of magic.” – The Australian on Cuatro 3

“The real tour de force…comes from Pedro Greig behind the scenes. He designed the sets, produced, directed, filmed and lit the pieces. All looked stunning.” – The Australian

+

Information

Four dancers. Four musicians. Four Films. Cuatro

A four-part online work, created in isolation, as eight virtuosic artists respond to a new way of life.

A collaboration between Sydney Dance Company and the Sydney Symphony OrchestraCuatro was conceived and created through the lens and screens of our new world.

Dancers and musicians began the collaborative process online, working with Rafael Bonachela and creative director and film-maker Pedro Greig to conceive and realise these four unique works, responding to this extraordinary period in time. Online discussions and sharing of music took place over a number of weeks, with each element finally filmed in isolation at the Sydney Dance Company Studios in Ultimo, Sydney.

All four films are free to view and enjoy.

Cuatro 1 Released: Live, watch above
Cuatro 2 Released: Live, watch above
Cuatro 3 Released: Live, watch above
Cuatro 4 Released: Live, watch above

With Thanks To

Bianca Spender
SUNSTUDIOS Sydney

 

Keep Australia dancing!

The love and support from our dance community is helping us to keep the Company moving forward during these challenging times. Cancelled performances and loss of ticket sales have had a huge impact on Sydney Dance Company.

Facing the biggest challenge in our five decades of defining contemporary dance in Australia, we are finding ways to respond and to make work.

Cuatro is for you, our audience, our community, our most important collaborator.

Now more than ever, if you are able, a gift of any size will truly have a transformational effect.

Follow @SydneyDanceCo and #SDCKeepDancing on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

+

Creatives

 

Produced and Directed by: Pedro Greig
Choreography: Rafael Bonachela

 

Cuatro 1
Dancer: Charmene Yap
Musician: Diana Doherty, oboe
Music: Heinz Hollinger, Sonata for solo oboe, I. Präludium

 

Cuatro 2
Dancer: Davide di Giovanni
Musician: Andrew Haveron, violin
Music: Niccolò Paganini, 24 Caprices for Solo Violin, Op.1: No. 11 in C

 

Cuatro 3
Dancer: Juliette Barton
Musician: Umberto Clerici, cello
Music: Johann Sebastian Bach, Suite No. 1 in G major, BWV 1007: IV. Sarabande

 

Cuatro 4
Dancer: Chloe Leong
Musician: Emma Sholl, flute
Music: Claude Debussy, Syrinx 

 

Costume Design: Bianca Spender
Set and Lighting Design: Pedro Greig
Audio Engineer: Guy Harding
Cameras and Lighting: Kindly supplied by SUNSTUDIOS Sydney

 

+

Media Reviews

“It lifts the spirits to find new work…Charmene Yap is as elegantly eloquent as ever.” – Sydney Morning Herald

“Choreography was…liquid…its qualities of introspection were deeply moving… the filming was exceptional with its shadows and close-up shots. Barton was technically brilliant.” – Michelle Potter, dance critic

“Live performance can be paused…you can’t stop creativity.” – Broadsheet

“It’s three minutes of magic.” – The Australian on Cuatro 3

“The real tour de force…comes from Pedro Greig behind the scenes. He designed the sets, produced, directed, filmed and lit the pieces. All looked stunning.” – The Australian