Sydney Dance Company’s Pre-Professional Year invites you to join us in celebrating the end of a dynamic, jam-packed year.
Featured Repertoire
Repertoire Archive
PPY24 Unfolds
Dates:
13 – 15 November
Location:
Neilson Studio, Sydney Dance Company
See PPY1 in an eclectic evening of new works by Cass Mortimer Eipper and Idan Cohen, alongside repertoire excerpts; Lux Tenebris by Rafael Bonachela and Rebus by Merce Cunningham restaged by Melissa Toogood.
Performance Dates & Times
13 November, 6:30pm
14 November, 6:30pm
15 November, 4pm & 6:30pm
The Brett Clegg bar will be open from 6pm and after the show.
Program
Information
Recursus
Cass Mortimer Eipper
Excerpt of Rebus
Merce Cunningham, restaged by Melissa Toogood
In Time
Idan Cohen, Omer Backley Astrachan
Excerpt of Lux Tenebris
Artistic Director, Rafael Bonachela
PPY24 Unfolds
In Time
Idan Cohen, Omer Backley Astrachan
Excerpt of Lux Tenebris
Artistic Director, Rafael Bonachela
Interval
Excerpt of Rebus
Merce Cunningham, restaged by Melissa Toogood
Pattern Pulse
Cass Mortimer Eipper
In Time
Choreographed by Idan Cohen
Choreographic assistant, Omer Backley-Astrachan
In Time is an associative exploration of Philip Glass’s solo piano étude no. 2
Glass’s work is celebrated for its ability to bend time, layer it, play with our perception of it, and break it apart. Etude No. 2 is a fascinating musical gateway through which a creative world of movement is assembled.
Composition: Philip Glass, Etude No. 2
Pianist: Leslie Dala
Excerpt of Lux Tenebris
Choreographed by Rafael Bonachela
Lux Tenebris, choreographed by Sydney Dance Company’s Artistic Director, Rafael Bonachela, is highly driven by the energy of the music by Australian composer Nick Wales. The work deals with contrast and visceral edges to evoke an instinctual connection between people and draw out the tension that comes from those interactions; the human encounters that surround us as they move in and out of focus, light and shadow. Lux Tenebris was created by exploring different meanings of light and darkness, the physical presence of it and how it makes us feel.
Music composition: Nick Wales
Excerpt of Rebus
Merce Cunningham
Restaged by Melissa Toogood
Rebus was choreographed in 1975 by Merce Cunningham. A work that harnessed the generational difference between Cunningham and the ten younger dancers of the original cast. Here Cunningham appeared as a detached, controlling presence. The dance was constructed in extended sequences with phrases as long as twenty counts. David Behrman’s music (Voice with Melody-Driven Electronics) employed a vocalist together with its electronic elements.
Pre-Professional Year dancers will perform an excerpt of Rebus, restaged by Melissa Toogood, former member of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company.
Music composition: David Behrman, Voice with Melody-Driven Electronics
Pattern Pulse
Choreographed by Cass Mortimer Eipper
Pattern Pulse delves into the enduring allure of cyclical rhythms that thread through life. Inspired by the tinny, repetitive melody of my 3-year-old child’s toy guitar, the choreography is shaped by images of an AI-generated figure, which served as inspiration, dancing through the decades of its life. The original melody, recorded from the guitar, forms the core, gradually unfolding into a layered, evolving score that intertwines with the dancers’ interpretations of this imagined journey. This transformation mirrors the patterns that captivate us, echoing the rhythms that resonate from childhood through to old age.
Music composition: Peter McAvan
PPY1 2024
Meet the graduating cohort of PPY1 2024
Mahalia Adamson
Shoshana Auerbach
Izzie Becvarik
Aleisha Brown
Edie Burgess
Astrid Cahill
Alice Collins
Meg Connolly
Nala Davies
Lily Dowley
Grace Fuz
Michiko Kogawa
Lucinda Miller
Soraya Moncelet
Sofia Montano
Poppy Nowlan
Ines Omodiagbe
Amalia Scherf
James Snashall
Daniella Sywak
Emma Taoho
Claudia Vales
Eloise Watts
Charlotte Whelan
Jera Wynyard-Byrnes
Image by Pedro Greig.
PPY24 Unfolds
Dates:
13 – 15 November
Location:
Neilson Studio, Sydney Dance Company
See PPY1 in an eclectic evening of new works by Cass Mortimer Eipper and Idan Cohen, alongside repertoire excerpts; Lux Tenebris by Rafael Bonachela and Rebus by Merce Cunningham restaged by Melissa Toogood.
Performance Dates & Times
13 November, 6:30pm
14 November, 6:30pm
15 November, 4pm & 6:30pm
The Brett Clegg bar will be open from 6pm and after the show.
Program
Information
Recursus
Cass Mortimer Eipper
Excerpt of Rebus
Merce Cunningham, restaged by Melissa Toogood
In Time
Idan Cohen, Omer Backley Astrachan
Excerpt of Lux Tenebris
Artistic Director, Rafael Bonachela
PPY24 Unfolds
In Time
Idan Cohen, Omer Backley Astrachan
Excerpt of Lux Tenebris
Artistic Director, Rafael Bonachela
Interval
Excerpt of Rebus
Merce Cunningham, restaged by Melissa Toogood
Pattern Pulse
Cass Mortimer Eipper
In Time
Choreographed by Idan Cohen
Choreographic assistant, Omer Backley-Astrachan
In Time is an associative exploration of Philip Glass’s solo piano étude no. 2
Glass’s work is celebrated for its ability to bend time, layer it, play with our perception of it, and break it apart. Etude No. 2 is a fascinating musical gateway through which a creative world of movement is assembled.
Composition: Philip Glass, Etude No. 2
Pianist: Leslie Dala
Excerpt of Lux Tenebris
Choreographed by Rafael Bonachela
Lux Tenebris, choreographed by Sydney Dance Company’s Artistic Director, Rafael Bonachela, is highly driven by the energy of the music by Australian composer Nick Wales. The work deals with contrast and visceral edges to evoke an instinctual connection between people and draw out the tension that comes from those interactions; the human encounters that surround us as they move in and out of focus, light and shadow. Lux Tenebris was created by exploring different meanings of light and darkness, the physical presence of it and how it makes us feel.
Music composition: Nick Wales
Excerpt of Rebus
Merce Cunningham
Restaged by Melissa Toogood
Rebus was choreographed in 1975 by Merce Cunningham. A work that harnessed the generational difference between Cunningham and the ten younger dancers of the original cast. Here Cunningham appeared as a detached, controlling presence. The dance was constructed in extended sequences with phrases as long as twenty counts. David Behrman’s music (Voice with Melody-Driven Electronics) employed a vocalist together with its electronic elements.
Pre-Professional Year dancers will perform an excerpt of Rebus, restaged by Melissa Toogood, former member of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company.
Music composition: David Behrman, Voice with Melody-Driven Electronics
Pattern Pulse
Choreographed by Cass Mortimer Eipper
Pattern Pulse delves into the enduring allure of cyclical rhythms that thread through life. Inspired by the tinny, repetitive melody of my 3-year-old child’s toy guitar, the choreography is shaped by images of an AI-generated figure, which served as inspiration, dancing through the decades of its life. The original melody, recorded from the guitar, forms the core, gradually unfolding into a layered, evolving score that intertwines with the dancers’ interpretations of this imagined journey. This transformation mirrors the patterns that captivate us, echoing the rhythms that resonate from childhood through to old age.
Music composition: Peter McAvan
PPY1 2024
Meet the graduating cohort of PPY1 2024
Mahalia Adamson
Shoshana Auerbach
Izzie Becvarik
Aleisha Brown
Edie Burgess
Astrid Cahill
Alice Collins
Meg Connolly
Nala Davies
Lily Dowley
Grace Fuz
Michiko Kogawa
Lucinda Miller
Soraya Moncelet
Sofia Montano
Poppy Nowlan
Ines Omodiagbe
Amalia Scherf
James Snashall
Daniella Sywak
Emma Taoho
Claudia Vales
Eloise Watts
Charlotte Whelan
Jera Wynyard-Byrnes
Image by Pedro Greig.