Performances

we unfold

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

Sydney Dance Company’s Artistic Director Rafael Bonachela creates his second major work following the unstoppable success of 360°, his premiere work for the Company, which burst onto the dance scene in 2008, introducing its choreographer to Australian audiences.

Inspired by and set to the music of Italian composer Ezio Bosso, we unfold deftly combines rigour, freedom, strength and precision into one exquisite dance work of exploration and discovery. Witness a new era of innovation in Australian contemporary dance with we unfold, as the underlying sexuality and physical presence of Sydney Dance Company literally takes your breath away.

we unfold will be a revelation of the new look SDC.” – Dance Australia

“…modern art engraved in steel; thrilling in its newness… Rafael Bonachela is of the moment.” – Dance Europe

“60 minutes of pure dance” – The Guardian

Performance History

 

Sydney Theatre
27 March – 11 April 2009

Playhouse, Canberra ACT
5 – 8 May 2010

Albury Entertainment Centre, NSW
11 – 12 May 2010

Wagga Wagga Civic Theatre, NSW
14 – 15 May 2010

Griffith Regional Theatre, NSW
18 – 19 May 2010

Teatro Malibran, Venice, Italy
3 – 5 June 2010

Shanghai World Expo, China
8 June 2010

Civic Theatre Newcastle, NSW
23 – 24 July 2010

The Arts Centre, Melbourne, VIC
9 – 13 November 2010

QPAC, Brisbane, QLD
18 – 27 November 2010

His Majesty’s Theatre Perth, WA
26 – 30 July 2011

Albany Entertainment Centre, WA
3 August 2011

Bunbury Entertainment Centre, WA
6 August 2011

Darwin Festival, Darwin Entertainment Centre, NT
11 – 12 August 2011

 

Creatives

 

Choreographer
Rafael Bonachela

Composer
Ezio Bosso

Video Artist
Daniel Askill

Costume Designer
Jordan Askill

Sound Designer
George Gorga

Lighting Designer
Hugh Taranto

Campaign Photography
Tim Richardson

Original Cast
Natalie Allen, Emily Amisano, Juliette Barton, Lachlan Bell, Adam Blanch, Richard Cilli, Janessa Dufty, Kynan Hughes, Fiona Jopp, Bernhard Knauer, Annabel Knight, Cameron McMillan, Chen Wen, Alexander Whitley, Charmene Yap

 

Media

 

we unfold is beautiful, and with his inventive choreography, Bonachela has set the bar high and whet the appetite for his future creations.” – Canberra City News

“Against Daniel Askill’s video backdrop of stars, and galaxies, burning flame and falling water Bonachela’s choreography appeared to travel through masses of time and space, accumulating an astonishing variety of visual and emotional perspectives.” – The Guardian

“This work is an outstanding contribution to dance. Achingly beautiful and memorable, We Unfold is as close as one gets to poetry in motion” – Trespass Magazine 

“Visceral, passionate and achingly beautiful… utterly breathtaking… It is genuinely moving and other worldly; but for all that unmistakably human” – Dance Informa 

we unfold is a visual and aural sensation the bodies, the costumes, the music and the video backdrops work together to make something that is unequivocally beautiful to observe.” – West Australian 

“It is a magnificent thing to be carried deep, far and wide by this profound work.”InPress

“It goes without saying that the dancers were uniformly brilliant and physically stunning – as if there is any doubt when the Sydney Dance Company troupe comes to town.”Same Same