Performances

Years | Live at MPavilion

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
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

2013

Emergence
Choreography / Rafael Bonachela
From an inspired collaboration with composer Nick Wales  and internationally acclaimed singer-songwriter Sarah Blasko comes Emergence, a dance work by Rafael Bonachela featuring the alluring costume creations of Australian fashion designer Dion Lee.
Duration: 37 minutes

2012

2 One Another
Choreography / Rafael Bonachela
Crackling with exultant power and intricate physical conversation, a pulsing pixelated backdrop, baroque-meets-electronica soundtrack and fragments of poetry, 2 One Another is a bright hour of irrefutable sensuality, delivering a visceral charge that has rocked audiences the world over.
Duration: 65 minutes

2011

The Land of Yes and the Land of No
Choreography / Rafael Bonachela
Beautifully wrought from the world of signs and symbols in our everyday lives, Artistic Director Rafael Bonchela’s celebrated production has toured extensively in the UK, Europe and Australia since it first premiered at the Ludwigsburg Festival, Germany in 2009.
Duration: 70 minutes
LANDforms
Choreography / Rafael Bonachela
Born out of a creative concept devised by Rafael Bonachela and Ezio Bosso, LANDforms takes its inspiration from the landscape and the elements and their impact on the earth and the industrial landscape of cities.
Duration: minutes
Raw Models
Choreography / Jacopo Godani
Daring and sexy, Italy’s Jacopo Godani makes work that pushes the dancers to their limits. His first Australia work, Raw Models is set to a composition by German electronica duo 48 Nord.
Duration: 15 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

Info, Dates & Prices


Date
Sat 5 February 2022, 6pm


Venue MPavilion


Duration 45 minutes


Price FREE


An elegiac meditation on the layers of legacy that shape both our past and our future, Years sees Artistic Director Rafael Bonachela’s choreography performed by the incredible dancers of Sydney Dance Company as they delve deep into the essence of movement and musicality.

Set to renowned Australian musician Stephen Emmerson’s reimagining of Bach’s iconic Goldberg Variations for two pianos, this counterpoint-rich adaptation was recorded with celebrated Ukranian-Australian pianist and collaborator Sonya Lifschitz whose “powerful exposition” (The Sydney Morning Herald) of Bach’s work has earned her international acclaim. Years was conceived, filmed and streamed during 2021’s lockdown as an online work, directed by Clemens Habicht.

This live, site-specific performance of Years sees six dancers respond both to the 31 counter point-rich variations and the essence of the MPavillion itself. Bonachela reflects on his personal choreographic journey and echoes of the past to find clarity at the heart of a turbulent world. Sinuous costumes by Bianca Spender bring softness and grace to the angles of the architecture and the dancers’ movement.

Created and staged with the support of the Naomi Milgrom Foundation, Years is also presented in honour of former Sydney Dance Company Board Member and patron of the arts, the late Carla Zampatti AC.

 

Creatives

Choreographer: Rafael Bonachela 
Costume Designer: Bianca Spender 
Company Dancers: Dean ElliottJackson FischLiam GreenLuke HaywardEmily SeymourChloe Young
Music: ‘Goldberg Variations’, BVW988, composed by Johann Sebastian Bach and arranged by Stephen Emmerson
Performed by: Sonya Lifschitz and Stephen Emmerson
Music Recording: Bob Scott, Jonathan Palmer
Sound Post Production at Dodgy Sound: Bob Scott

Original Film project produced by Collider Films and Sydney Dance Company.
Directed by: Clemens Habicht
Director of Photography: Florian Emmerich

 

Acknowledgements

Artistic Director’s Commissioning Partner 2021 (Years).

Supported by

Years is also generously supported by Sydney Dance Company supporters: Arab Bank Australia, Tony Berg AM and Carol Berg AM, David Mathlin, Jules Maxwell, Rebel Penfold-Russell OAM, Penelope Seidler AM, Matt Shelmerdine and Bianca Spender and Sam McGuinness.

+

Info, Dates & Prices


Date
Sat 5 February 2022, 6pm


Venue MPavilion


Duration 45 minutes


Price FREE


An elegiac meditation on the layers of legacy that shape both our past and our future, Years sees Artistic Director Rafael Bonachela’s choreography performed by the incredible dancers of Sydney Dance Company as they delve deep into the essence of movement and musicality.

Set to renowned Australian musician Stephen Emmerson’s reimagining of Bach’s iconic Goldberg Variations for two pianos, this counterpoint-rich adaptation was recorded with celebrated Ukranian-Australian pianist and collaborator Sonya Lifschitz whose “powerful exposition” (The Sydney Morning Herald) of Bach’s work has earned her international acclaim. Years was conceived, filmed and streamed during 2021’s lockdown as an online work, directed by Clemens Habicht.

This live, site-specific performance of Years sees six dancers respond both to the 31 counter point-rich variations and the essence of the MPavillion itself. Bonachela reflects on his personal choreographic journey and echoes of the past to find clarity at the heart of a turbulent world. Sinuous costumes by Bianca Spender bring softness and grace to the angles of the architecture and the dancers’ movement.

Created and staged with the support of the Naomi Milgrom Foundation, Years is also presented in honour of former Sydney Dance Company Board Member and patron of the arts, the late Carla Zampatti AC.

 

Creatives

Choreographer: Rafael Bonachela 
Costume Designer: Bianca Spender 
Company Dancers: Dean ElliottJackson FischLiam GreenLuke HaywardEmily SeymourChloe Young
Music: ‘Goldberg Variations’, BVW988, composed by Johann Sebastian Bach and arranged by Stephen Emmerson
Performed by: Sonya Lifschitz and Stephen Emmerson
Music Recording: Bob Scott, Jonathan Palmer
Sound Post Production at Dodgy Sound: Bob Scott

Original Film project produced by Collider Films and Sydney Dance Company.
Directed by: Clemens Habicht
Director of Photography: Florian Emmerich

 

Acknowledgements

Artistic Director’s Commissioning Partner 2021 (Years).

Supported by

Years is also generously supported by Sydney Dance Company supporters: Arab Bank Australia, Tony Berg AM and Carol Berg AM, David Mathlin, Jules Maxwell, Rebel Penfold-Russell OAM, Penelope Seidler AM, Matt Shelmerdine and Bianca Spender and Sam McGuinness.