Performances

Project Rameau

Overview

Two of Australia’s greatest contemporary arts companies come together on stage for the first time.

Sydney Dance Company and the Australian Chamber Orchestra join forces for an exhilarating performance featuring the music of Jean-Philippe Rameau. Artistic Directors Rafael Bonachela (Sydney Dance Company) and Richard Tognetti (ACO) bring Rameau’s impassioned Baroque ballet and opera music roaring into the 21st century in their stunning collaboration Project Rameau.

A mutual passion for Rameau’s perfumed and powerful French Baroque dance music sparks this production by Rafael Bonachela and Richard Tognetti. Rameau’s flair for rhythm and melody, and feeling for choreography, leads many to name him the greatest ballet composer of his time, certainly the most influential. Bonachela’s dynamic choreography, innate musicality and theatricality serve to illuminate this brilliant music.

Fusing refined Baroque music with beautiful contemporary dance, Project Rameau’s premiere season played to packed theatres and critical acclaim.

This project has been assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council for the Arts, its arts funding and advisory body.

Performance History

Sydney Theatre
29 October – 3 November 2012

Queensland Performing Arts Centre
11 – 13 July 2013

Canberra Theatre Centre
12 – 14 September 2013

Kunming Theatre, Kunming, China
11 – 14 December 2013

Creatives

Presented in Collaboration with Australian Chamber Orchestra

Australian Chamber Orchestra Artistic Director
Richard Tognetti

Sydney Dance Company Artistic Director
Rafael Bonachela

Music
Jean-Philippe Rameau
Antonio Vivaldi
Johann Sebastian Bach

Choreography
Rafael Bonachela

Lighting & Set Design
Benjamin Cisterne

Costume Design
Rafael Bonachela & Fiona Holley

Music Arrangement
Graham Sadler
Vi King Lim
Jennifer Powell

Dancers and Creators 
Alana Sargent, Alisha Coon, Andrew Crawford, Bernhard Knauer, Charmene Yap, Chen Wen, Chris Aubrey, Emily Amisano, Janessa Dufty, Jesse Scales, Jessica Thompson, Juliette Barton, Lachlan Bell, Natalie Allen, Richard Cilli, Todd Sutherland, Thomas Bradley

Musicians
Australian Chamber Orchestra

Sound Engineers
Adam Iuston
Hayley Forward
Simon Lear

Project Rameau Campaign Photography
Justin Ridler

Media

“Energy pours off the stage… a flawless performance.” – Sydney Morning Herald

“This performance is at the French-Champagne-and-Beluga-Caviar end of the entertainment menu – something everyone should experience at least once in their lives.” – Stage Whispers

“There was an eloquence and divinity that permeated the performance, a timeless and ethereal quality that enlivened the senses through the finery and emotive sway of Rameau’s music coupled with the precise lines, oomph, grace and intensity of the dance.” – Australian Stage

“If marriages are made in heaven, then the union of Sydney Dance Company and the Australian Chamber Orchestra for Project Rameau has proved a divine one.” – Daily Telegraph

“If only we could get these two intrepid ensembles together for an annual collaboration.” – Limelight Magazine 

Project Rameau was one of those made-in-heaven collaborations” – Michelle Potter on Dancing