Sydney Dance Company 2016

Sydney Dance Company has announced their 2016 Artistic Program, comprising two new works from Artistic Director Rafael Bonachela alongside acclaimed choreographies from Sweden’s Alexander Ekman and Adelaide based Australian choreographer Gabrielle Nankivell, in addition to newly commissioned dance works from four up and coming Australian choreographers, yet to be revealed.

A highlight of the year will be an extensive national tour, in which the company will present a new work from Artistic Director Rafael Bonachela, Lux Tenebris, alongside Alexander Ekman’s acclaimed Cacti, at 18 venues in six states and territories around Australia, from Sydney to Canberra, Melbourne and Darwin, and throughout regional New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australia.

Named for the Latin term meaning ‘Light and Darkness’, Lux Tenebris is a full ensemble piece, created on the Sydney Dance Company dancers. Movement follows deep, unexpected, visceral beats to discover a dark place where there is space for beauty and light.

A second Sydney Dance Company season in October sees Bonachela share the bill with Adelaide-based Gabrielle Nankivell, winner of the 2015 Tanja Leidtke Fellowship, presenting her 2014 production Wildebeest, a standout work originally commissioned as part of Sydney Dance Company and Carriageworks’ New Breed program, making its debut on the Roslyn Packer Theatre stage.

For his second world premiere of the year, Bonachela takes inspiration from a vibrant contemporary classical composition by Bulgarian Grammy nominee Dobrinka Tabakova - her Concerto For Cello and Strings.

It provides a counterpoint to Nankivell’s Wildebeest, a dancework based on the idea that ‘underneath it all we are all animals and fanciful creatures... backed with an amazing score from Luke Smiles of stormy weather, soaring song and yet more industrial grind – enough to match a passing freight train.’ (Daily Review)

New Breedreturns in November, introducing four next generation Australian choreographers, given the once in a life time opportunity to create work on dancers from the Sydney Dance Company ensemble. 

In addition to 78 scheduled performances in Australia in 2016, Sydney Dance Company continues its tradition of international touring, presenting the s triple bill, Interplay, comprising works by Rafael Bonachela, Gideon Obarzanek, and Italy’s Jacopo Godani, (Artistic Director of the newly named Frankfurt-Dresden Dance Company, formerly the Forsythe Company), at Switzerland’s prestigious STEPS Festival in April. 

SYDNEY DANCE COMPANY 2016 PROGRAM

FEBRUARY/ MARCH

SYDNEY

Sydney Dance Company presents

CounterMove

Double bill
World premiere, Rafael Bonachela, Lux Tenebris Alexander Ekman, Cacti

Roslyn Packer Theatre Walsh Bay, Sydney, 26 February – 12 March

APRIL

INTERNATIONAL TOUR, SWITZERLAND/ GERMANY

Sydney Dance Company presents

Interplay

Triple bill

Rafael Bonachela, 2 in D Minor

Jacopo Godani, Raw Models

Gideon Obarzanek, L’Chaim

Tour dates, April 8 – 23

STEPS Festival, Switzerland

8 April, Lugano

10 April, Fribourg

13 April, Lörrach, Germany

15 April, Zurich

17 April, Zug

20 April, Monthey

23 April, Neuchatel

MAY

CANBERRA/ MELBOURNE

Sydney Dance Company presents

CounterMove

Double bill

Rafael Bonachela, Lux Tenebris

Alexander Ekman, Cacti

Canberra Theatre Centre, 19 – 21 May

Southbank Theatre, Melbourne, 25 May – 4 June

JUNE/ JULY/ AUGUST

NATIONAL TOUR – REGIONAL NSW, QUEENSLAND, WESTERN AUSTRALIA

Sydney Dance Company presents

CounterMove

Double bill

World premiere, Rafael Bonachela, Lux Tenebris

Alexander Ekman, Cacti

Tour dates June 17 – August 27

New South Wales

17 – 18 June, Wollongong

22 June, Orange

25 June, Newcastle

29 June, Port Macquarie

Queensland

2 July, Rockhampton

6 July, Gladstone

9 – 10 July, Cairns

15 – 16 July, Gold coast

Northern Territory

29 July, Darwin

Western Australia

3 Aug, Geraldton

6 Aug, Mandurah

9 Aug, Albany

13 Aug, Bunbury

New South Wales

20 Aug: Bathurst

24 Aug: Griffith

27 Aug: Dubbo

OCTOBER

SYDNEY

Sydney Dance Company presents

Untamed

World premiere

Rafael Bonachela, Title TBC

Gabrielle Nankivell, Wildebeest

Roslyn Packer Theatre Walsh Bay, Sydney, 18 – 29 October

www.sydneydancecompany.com

Images: Dancers Chloe Leong, and Bernhard Knauer, photos by Irenaeus Herok

Click here to read about other 2016 Seasons.