Sydney Dance Company
Feel The Pulse
Sydney Dance Company, under the Artistic Direction of Rafael Bonachela, is thrilled to announce its 2024 Artistic Program, a year of dance that ignites the senses and showcases the Company’s breathtaking virtuosity and electrifying dynamism.
Sydney Dance Company’s 2024 Season Feel the Pulse embodies the essence of the Sydney Dance Company experience – transformative and powerful collaborations, bringing the very best of contemporary dance to the Australian stage, world-premieres that will engage, inspire and move audiences of all ages, and at the heart of it all, Sydney Dance Company’s powerhouse ensemble, showcasing their superb skill and formidable artistry.
Rafael Bonachela, Sydney Dance Company Artistic Director, says, “I am delighted to present our 2024 program. The year ahead is filled with new works, exciting collaborations, national and international touring, and it is always a great pleasure and privilege to share the performances of the extraordinary dancers of the company.
I am beyond excited to welcome the extraordinary Melanie Lane back to create a major brand-new work for the Company. Melanie is one of the most exciting and boundary-pushing choreographers working today, and it will be thrilling to discover what she has in store for Sydney Dance Company audiences in 2024. My work Impermanence returns to the stage alongside Melanie Lane’s work for Season Two, and I’m so happy to continue this collaboration with our dear friends, the Australian String Quartet.
Season One features a new full-length work from me together with my exciting collaborators, this work momenta will also tour the country extensively – I can’t wait to choreograph it and share it with you all.”
Sydney Dance Company
2024 SEASON DETAILS
INTERNATIONAL TOUR
★★★★ “This is contemporary dance at its most evocative and beautiful… moments of sheer wonderment and unexpected emotional catharsis” TimeOut Sydney on Impermanence
In March and April, the Company will embark on a European, UK and USA tour, performing repertoire including Rafael Bonachela’s critically acclaimed Impermanence, the ferociously physical and heartfelt ab [intra] and the smash-hit triple-bill Ascent featuring works by Marina Mascarell, Antony Hamilton and Rafael Bonachela.
★★★★½ “A dazzling, electrifying, heartfelt work. Highly recommended.” Limelight on ab [intra]
Spain, UK, Serbia, USA, with further locations to be announced in the coming weeks.
Barcelona, Spain
Mercat de les Flors
14 – 16 March: Ascent
19 – 20 March: Impermanence
London, UK
Royal Opera House, Linbury Theatre
25 – 28 March: Ascent
Belgrade, Serbia
Belgrade Dance Festival
5 – 6 April: ab [intra]
Portland, Oregon, USA
Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall – Presented by Whitebird
10 April: ab [intra]
Washington DC, USA
John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Eisenhower Theater
25 – 27 April: Impermanence
Season One
momenta
New full-length work by Rafael Bonachela
Music: Original Score by Nick Wales featuring “Distant Light” by Pēteris Vasks
Lighting Design: Damien Cooper
Set and Costume Design: Elizabeth Gadsby
Associate Designer: Emma White
Roslyn Packer Theatre, Sydney
28 May – 8 June
Canberra Theatre Centre
21 – 22 June
State Theatre Centre, Perth
31 July – 3 August
Arts Centre Melbourne, Playhouse
8 – 12 October
momenta is a journey into the poetry and physics of human connection by celebrated choreographer Rafael Bonachela. This mesmerising piece presents a kaleidoscope of energies, capturing the essence of fleeting moments suspended between past and future, where individual trajectories collide and intertwine.
momenta brims with Bonachela’s distinct style, rich with rhythmical and spatial patterning and endlessly inventive partnering. The dancers of Sydney Dance Company transcend physical limitations; exploring the full range of their bodies with grace, power and vulnerability. Each moment resonates through the space, drawing the audience into a captivating world where raw expression meets refined technique.
Through the captivating interplay of Bonachela’s signature choreographic style, Wales’ evocative soundscapes and Gadsby and Cooper’s striking designs, momenta gathers the hurtling vectors of our lives into confluence and connection. For audiences and dancers alike, it is an invitation to rejoice in the beauty and fragility of our shared humanity.
NATIONAL TOUR
★★★★1/2 “Bold, emotive and visceral, Ascent is a must-see for lovers of dance.” – ArtsHub
Sydney Dance Company’s national tour will include performances of Ascent, the critically acclaimed triple-bill by Rafael Bonachela, Marina Mascarell and Antony Hamilton and Rafael Bonachela’s brand-new full-length work, momenta.
National Tour Dates
Orange, NSW
Orange Civic Theatre: Ascent
21 Feb
Tamworth, NSW
Capitol Theatre Tamworth: Ascent
24 Feb
Cairns, QLD
Cairns Performing Arts Centre: momenta
15 June
Darwin, NT
Darwin Entertainment Centre (The Playhouse): momenta
26 June
Shoalhaven, NSW
Shoalhaven Entertainment Centre: momenta
3 July
Wagga Wagga, NSW
Wagga Wagga Civic Theatre: momenta
6 July
Mandurah, WA
Mandurah Performing Arts Centre: momenta
19 July
Albany, WA
Albany Entertainment Centre: momenta
24 July
Karratha, WA
Red Earth Arts Precinct: momenta
27 July
Rooty Hill, NSW
Sydney Coliseum Theatre: momenta
10 August
Wyong, NSW
The Art House, Wyong: momenta
25 October
Season Two
Twofold
Impermanence by Rafael Bonachela
LOVE LOCK by Melanie Lane (World Premiere)
18 – 28 September
Roslyn Packer Theatre, Sydney
17 – 19 October
Brisbane Powerhouse, Brisbane
Season Two celebrates the breadth of choreographic dynamism and diversity with two formidable works from renowned choreographic powerhouses, Melanie Lane and Rafael Bonachela.
Prolific Australian/Javanese choreographer Melanie Lane presents a world-premiere work, LOVE LOCK, featuring a score composed by UK electronic artist Chris Clark. Melanie Lane created the electrifying, critically acclaimed work WOOF for Sydney Dance Company’s New Breed program at Carriageworks in 2017, which also featured a hypnotic electronic score by Chris Clark. WOOF was presented as part of Sydney Dance Company’s 50th Anniversary mainstage season in 2019 and has since been toured nationally.
LOVE LOCK asks the question, what does folk dance look like in the 21st century? A dance that absorbs the complex fabric of our diverse cultures, of an accelerating world, of disappearing lands. LOVE LOCK is a re-imagined folk dance that draws upon these collective experiences, and celebrates the binding act of dance to move, warn and empower us.
Melanie Lane’s LOVE LOCK is generously supported by Sydney Dance Company’s Visionary Patron Brett Clegg and the Clegg Foundation.
‘Hugely impressive… WOOF certainly marks out Lane as one to watch.’ – TimeOut on WOOF
Season Two features the reprise of Rafael Bonachela’s visceral and thrilling exploration of the juxtaposition of beauty and devastation, Impermanence. Co-commissioned with the Australian String Quartet, the critically acclaimed full-length work features an award-winning score full of emotional power from Grammy Award-winning composer Bryce Dessner of The National.
“Impermanence is an invitation to experience the power of dance in conjunction with music. A goal that is fully achieved during the 60 minutes of the show. Impermanence is an ambitious work that few dance companies are capable of offering…” – El Español
“Rafael Bonachela seeks to connect with the public in a visceral and emotional way through his work… This night of dance is a transformative experience for the audience, who will leave with a new perspective on art and dance.” – Prenser Madridsur
New Breed
4 – 14 December 2024
Carriageworks, Eveleigh
In 2024 Sydney Dance Company, Carriageworks and The Balnaves Foundation continue their commitment to choreographers and present the eleventh edition of New Breed.
Since its premiere season in 2014, 39 emerging Australian choreographers have created works for this program.
Showcasing a rich diversity of choreographic ideas, the eleventh cohort of incredibly talented choreographers will create brand new works on members of Sydney Dance Company. 2024’s four choreographers will be announced mid-year.
New Breed is made possible thanks to the support The Balnaves Foundation.
‘★★★★ Full of a wonderful sense of adventure, but also with the choreographic and theatrical nous to pull off an eclectic and consistently satisfying night of dance.’ – TimeOut Sydney
The Balnaves Foundation Artist in Residence
The Balnaves Foundation and Sydney Dance Company are thrilled to welcome the inaugural recipient of The Balnaves Foundation Artist in Residence for 2024, Jasmin Sheppard.
The Balnaves Foundation Artist in Residence is an invaluable new initiative for emerging choreographers to work with all departments of Sydney Dance Company on-site for one year. Jasmin was part of Sydney Dance Company’s New Breed season in 2021, creating the critically acclaimed work, Given Unto Thee, and has previously worked as a dancer with Bangarra Dance Theatre for 12 years.
This opportunity will provide Jasmin with unparalleled industry experience by exposing her to a complete artistic, production and administrative cycle within Australia’s pre-eminent contemporary dance company
COLLABORATIONS AND SPECIAL PROJECTS
Sydney Dance Company in association with Seven Circles presents
Club Origami
By Takeshi Matsumoto
10 – 13 July
“This imaginative stage show is ripping fun for under-fives, who will be mesmerised by the paper birds and monsters.” The Guardian UK
Rip, fold and scrumple!
Shall we see what we can make with a single square of paper?
As you scrunch the paper, see how your imagination begins to dance…
Dive into the magical world of Club Origami, an immersive and interactive dance show inviting family audiences to create, imagine and explore whole new ways of thinking, playing and moving. Dance, fashion and live music meet the magic of origami to sweep us up on a spirited and inspiring adventure in a land made purely of paper and play.
Club Origami is commissioned and produced by Little Big Dance – a pioneering national initiative creating new dance work for children aged five and under, led by South East Dance in partnership with DanceEast, Take Art and Yorkshire Dance and funded by Paul Hamlyn Foundation and Arts Council England, co-commissioned by Birmingham Hippodrome, Dance Umbrella, Strike-a-light and Spark Arts.
Concept – Takeshi Matsumoto
Created and performed by Makiko Aoyama, Takeshi Matsumoto
Music – Robert Howat
Dramaturg – Lou Cope
Set and lighting designer – Ben Pacey
Costume designer – Giulia Scrimieri
The Australian debut of Club Origami is generously supported by the Naomi Milgrom Foundation.
INDance
15 – 24 August
Now in its third year, Sydney Dance Company and the Neilson Foundation are proud to be supporting INDance, an independent dance program held in the Neilson Studio at Sydney Dance Company.
INDance provides a platform for independent choreographers and creatives to present their work, with the aim of building capacity, improving access and participation across the sector while reflecting the rich diversity of choreographic voices in contemporary Australia.
This short season of dance works were chosen through an expression of interest process and reviewed by an external panel of industry advisors led by Rafael Bonachela. Applicants were assessed on their works, their suitability for the program and the performance space, and whether INDance could provide an appropriate platform to showcase their work.
Silence & Rapture
Sydney Dance Company & Australian Chamber Orchestra
2 – 19 August
Locations nationally (hyperlink to come)
A mesmerising collaboration with Sydney Dance Company and Australian Chamber Orchestra featuring countertenor Iestyn Davies and the music of Johann Sebastian Bach and Arvo Pärt.
Australian Chamber Orchestra’s Richard Tognetti directs this mesmerising collaboration between the ACO and Sydney Dance Company that brings together music, movement and evocative lighting to create something truly extraordinary.
Expressing the luminous longing at the heart of this music is choreography from Rafael Bonachela, while Gramophone Award-winning countertenor Iestyn Davies, whose performances have been described as “a pleasure that verges on the sublime” (The Guardian) makes his Australian debut, bringing these stirring melodies to life.
