Performances

New Creations 2

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

New Creations 2 features the Australian premiere of two award-winning works by artistic director and resident choreographer Rafael Bonachela: Irony Of Fate—a solo work created for and danced for the final time by Amy Hollingsworth, and Soledad—an intimate and intense duet. These were performed alongside a world premiere by renowned Israeli choreographer Emanuel Gat created especially for Sydney Dance Company, an artist renowned for creating visually alluring and strikingly versatile choreography.

Irony of Fate was created by Rafael Bonachela in 2004 for dancer Amy Hollingsworth and the violinist Ruth Palmer. The work is a dialogue between two artists, wherein virtuosity and passion come together, taking the performers on a journey to the brink of exhaustion.

Commissioned by Probe in 2005 and performed in Europe by the Bonachela Dance Company, Soledad was awarded both the Guglielmo Ebreo Prize and the Critic’s prize at the Biennale Danza e Italia International Competition in 2006.

Satisfying Musical Moments is, in many ways, a journey into the alchemy of form and substance. The work is an invitation to join this remarkable group of individuals, as they dive into intricate choreography and intimate moments. The piece explores the capacity of dance to lead both makers and audiences, towards fresh and surprising insights. The elaborated choreographic mechanism is manifested through dynamic structures, creating an architectural environment for the human drama unfolding on stage. Satisfying Musical Moments, works its way from the intimacy of the single dancer, to overwhelming tableaux of massive compositions. It offers a complex yet simple and honest way of tackling the most relevant questions regarding art-making and life.

Performance History

Sydney Theatre
12 – 23 October 2010

Creatives

Irony of Fate
Choreography: Rafael Bonachela
Music: Vytautus Barkauskas Partita
Costume Design: Robert Cary-Williams
Lighting Design: Michael Mannion
Sound Design: Adam Iuston
Dancer: Amy Hollingsworth
Violinist: Ruth Palmer

Soledad
Choreography: Rafael Bonachela
Music: Gidon Kremer – Milona en re; Oblivion – Homage to Piazzola; Chavela Vargas – La Llorona; Noche de Ronda
Sound Design: Adam Iuston
Original Lighting Design: Lee Curran
Cast: Emily Amisano & Richard Cilli or Annabel Knight & Lachlan Bell

Satisfying Musical Moments
Choreography, Music & Lights: Emanuel Gat
Choreographic Assistant: Amy Hollingsworth
Additional Music: Franz Schubert – Des Tages Weihe D 763
Costume Coordination: Claire Rassmussen
Sound Design: Adam Iuston
Cast: Natalie Allen, Emily Amisano, Juliette Barton, Lachlan Bell, Adam Blanch, Richard Cilli, Janessa Dufty, Kynan Hughes, Fiona Jopp, Bernhard Knauer, Annabel Knight, Alana Sargent, Chen Wen, Charmene Yap

New Creations 2 Campaign Photography: Tim Richardson

Media

“The connection between Hollingsworth, who performs with exquisite precision, and the elegant Palmer is like an invisible umbilical cord that links the stationary musician and writhing dancer.”Daily Telegraph 

“Gat’s piece is like watching a science experiment where the dancers are atoms that bounce off each other, are attracted, repelled, form bonds or rest on the edges, always watching one another intently.” – Daily Telegraph

“Spectacular form of the dancers who collectively dazzle.” – Daily Telegraph 

“Hollingsworth finished each phrase with beautiful finesse, her muscular torso, expressive arms and arrow-sharp feet delineating every bar of the music.” – Dance Australia 

Soledad… superb dancing and characterisation by both dancers” – Dance Australia 

“A vigorous, strongly danced program– Sydney Morning Herald 

“Emily Amisano and Richard Cilli dance stylishly and sensitively to seductive music in the Latin style. Between them, the dancers flesh out challenging choreography with the human spirit.” – Sydney Morning Herald  

“Hollingsworth’s impressive muscular strength is stretched to its limits in a beautifully paced short piece that may run to only about 10 minutes but is packed with virtuosic athleticism.” – Sydney Morning Herald