2027 National Tour

Sydney Dance Company is proud to tour Australia annually, sharing the transformative power of contemporary dance with communities across this wide land.

In 2027, our touring program features the electrifying program Engine, a striking triple bill that ignited the Sydney Opera House in its 2026 premiere season. Three choreographers present an exhilarating performance that promises bold, fearless dance while exploring the individual journey, entwined with connection and collectivity.

Engine tour presenting partner The Art House, Wyong.

Queensland
29 July – 7 August 2027

New South Wales & Tasmania
11 – 25 August 2027

Sydney Dance Company’s NSW touring is supported by the Sydney Dance Company Touring Fund and the NSW Government through Create NSW.

Sydney Dance Company’s interstate touring is supported by the Australian Government through Creative Australia, its principal arts investment and advisory body.

Engine unites three extraordinary choreographers; Rafael Bonachela, Fran Diaz and Melanie Lane, for an exhilarating performance of bold, fearless dance.

Rafael Bonachela’s The Journey Itself Is Home, features music by Grammy Award-winning composer Bryce Dessner and is inspired by 17th-century Japanese poet Matsuo Bashō.

Engine includes Australian/Javanese choreographer Melanie Lane’s Love Lock, a re-imagined folk dance of the future, drawing upon collective experiences of diverse cultures, an accelerating world and disappearing lands. Love Lock celebrates the binding ability of dance to move, warn and empower, showcasing costume design by celebrated Australian fashion designer Akira Isogawa, layered with texture and colour, and a score composed by UK electronic artist Clark.

Completing the bill is The Mass Ornament a hypnotic work by the remarkable Berlin-based Spanish choreographer Fran Diaz. Set to the music of Henryk Górecki, The Mass Ornament reimagines Siegfried Kracauer’s seminal 1927 essay. Diaz compellingly transforms the concept of mass movement into an exploration of connection and collectivity, where individuality coexists, not in opposition, but in dialogue. The Mass Ornament was originally commissioned by Hessisches Staatsballet and performed in Australia with its kind permission.

Sydney Dance Company’s season, Engine is supported by it’s presenting partner The Art House, Wyong and includes support from the donors to the Carla Zampatti Commissioning Fund. 

Melanie Lane’s Love Lock is a vivid, futuristic folk dance that collides romance, ritual and imagination. Drawing on collective traditions and the emotional charge of love songs, Lane celebrates the binding ability of dance to move, warn and empower.

With striking costumes by celebrated designer Akira Isogawa and a pulsating score by UK electronic artist Clark, Love Lock summons a charged, otherworldly energy. Part celebration, part warning and wholly alive.

★★★★★ “Lane has an uncanny ability to stretch your space-time perceptions and make live dance feel like a gorgeously filmed, addictive music video.” – Sydney Morning Herald (Twofold 2024)

★★★★★ “…choreographed with electric intelligence by Melanie Lane.” – Sydney Morning Herald (Twofold 2024)

“…Love Lock feels exceedingly contemporary. In fact, it feels like a glimpse into the future. You just can’t look away.” – ArtsHub (Twofold 2024)

Choreography: Melanie Lane
Composer: Clark
Lighting and Set Design: Damien Cooper
Costume Design: Akira Isogawa

Love Lock was originally supported as part of Sydney Dance Company’s Twofold season, by Visionary Patron, the Clegg Foundation.

The Mass Ornament by Berlin-based Spanish choreographer Fran Diaz made its Australian premiere in 2026 with this hypnotic work, set to the music of Henryk Górecki.

Reimagining Siegfried Kracauer’s 1927 essay, Diaz transforms the idea of mass movement into a choreographic exploration of unity and presence. Instead of dancers disappearing into a mechanical whole, the work reveals a system built on connection, where precision depends on awareness, and individuality and collectivity exist in constant dialogue.

Choreography, Set Design & Costumes: Fran Díaz
Choreographic Assistant: Keren Leiman
Music: Henryk Górecki
Additional Composition / Sound Design: Tom Foskett-Barnes
Set Design Advisor: Manuel Cornelius
Costume Assistant: Janine Schwind
Light Design: Tanja Rühl

Fran Diaz’s The Mass Ornament is generously supported by Sydney Dance Company’s Visionary Patron, the Clegg Foundation. The Mass Ornament was originally commissioned by Hessisches Staatsballet and performed in Australia with its kind permission.

The Journey Itself Is Home, Rafael Bonachela’s choreographic work is set to music by Grammy Award–winning composer Bryce Dessner and inspired by the writing of 17th-century Japanese poet Matsuo Bashō.

Taking its title from Bashō’s reflection, “Each day is a journey, and the journey itself is home,” the work embraces a philosophy where travel becomes a state of being. Bonachela transforms this idea into a choreographic meditation on movement and presence, where meaning is found not in arrival, but in the act of continual becoming – each step a destination in itself.

Choreography: Rafael Bonachela
Composer: Bryce Dessner
Lighting Design: Damien Cooper
Set and Costume Design:  Kelsey Lee

Commissioning Partner, Orsolina28 Art Foundation