Performances

Louder Than Words

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

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

Overview

Dance that explodes with power and beauty.

Louder Than Words features two world premieres, one by Sydney Dance Company’s Artistic Director Rafael Bonachela and the other by European star Andonis Foniadakis, both showcasing our award-winning dancers stretched to their physical limits in an awe-inspiring Sydney exclusive season.

Bonachela’s new work Scattered Rhymes is a collaboration with acclaimed GRAMMY® nominated British composer Tarik O’Regan and Australian composer Nick Wales. Taking inspiration from poetry and music it explores the ambiguities of unrequited, sensuous and divine love. Andonis Foniadakis’ new work Parenthesis investigates the theme of duality in an intimate relationship. This highly-athletic, tour-de-force of movement features an original score by French composer Julien Tarride and costumes by renowned Greek fashion designer/photographer Tassos Sofronious.

Brash and beautiful, fearless and impossible to contain, don’t miss your chance to be entertained by these modern masters and our 16 exceptional dancers.

Warning: Louder Than Words contains haze, strobe and partial nudity.

Performance History

Sydney Theatre
4 – 18 October 2014

Creatives

Scattered Rhymes
Choreographer: Rafael Bonachela
Composer: Tarik O’Regan and Nick Wales
Costume Design: Rafael Bonachela
Costume Design Realisation: Fiona Holley
Lighting and Stage Designer: Benjamin Cisterne
Original Cast: Juliette Barton, Thomas Bradley, Holly Doyle, Janessa Dufty, David Mack, Cass Mortimer Eipper, Fiona Jopp, Bernhard Knauer, Paul Knobloch, Alana Sargent, Jesse Scales, Todd Sutherland, Jessica Thompson, Petros Treklis, Charmene Yap, Sam Young-Wright

Louder Than Words Campaign Photography: Justin Ridler

Media

“Hi-octane dance, savvy LX and thrilling music…Don’t blink – this is seriously great work from a seriously great company.”Limelight Magazine

“The speed and physical virtuosity are undeniably exhilarating… Parenthesis is a big hit” – The Australian

“An enticing half-hour dance score that deserves more than one hearing.” – Sydney Morning Herald

“All praise to the dancers for their untiring efforts and extraordinary achievements in winding their bodies around the choreographic demands of the latest SDC program. They dance like well-drilled demons.” – Sydney Morning Herald

Parenthesis explodes on to the stage as a riot of music and movement; earthy, frenetic and utterly fabulous.” – Daily Telegraph

“Under Rafael Bonachela, Sydney Dance Company has become an ultra-sleek ensemble. The dancers are extraordinary and never more so than in Louder Than Words in which they perform an avalanche of intensely physical, ever-flowing choreography and make it look easy.” – Sunday Telegraph

“Endlessly fascinating…undeniably thrilling.” – Sunday Telegraph 

“Bonachela’s achieves that sublime experience when music, movement and design coming together in euphoric alchemy”  – Time Out Sydney

“The quality of the dancers, who move with incredible discipline and precision as individuals and as an ensemble but also with an electrifying intent; it’s perfection.” – Time Out Sydney

“The choreography is mind-blowingly complex while being beautifully fluid. It is mesmerising and sensual.” – ABC Arts

“With Bonachela at its helm, Sydney Dance Company has again produced a demanding contemporary work highlighting the strength and physicality of his dancers. Louder Than Words demonstrates that Sydney Dance Company has rebounded and has produced a delectable work which exposes the possibility of the human body.” – ABC Arts