Resound Program

Bonachela

What an incredible year 2022 has been so far!

We returned to the world stage, with Rafael Bonachela’s ab [intra] touring to various locations across France, including a two-week residency at the prestigious Théâtre National de Chaillot in Paris. After standing ovations and much critical acclaim, this phenomenal work came home to our Australian audiences for an outstanding season at the Roslyn Packer Theatre. In August, we launched INDance, our new season of independent dance presented at the Neilson Studio at Sydney Dance Company. Featuring four works by incredible independent Australian artists, it was such a joy to support the independent dance sector with a sold-out inaugural season. And most recently we have been in Melbourne as part of the Australian Ballet’s Dance X festival, sharing the stage with colleagues from across the dance sector in Australia.

Now I am pleased to welcome you to our second season for the year Resound. This new triple bill features two world premieres Summer by Rafael Bonachela and The Universe is Here by Stephanie Lake, as well as the return of Bonachela’s Ocho.

Originally premiering in 2017, Ocho received rave reviews from audiences and critics alike, and I am thrilled for its return to the stage as part of Resound. Set in a glass room designed by David Fleischer, eight dancers search for salvation and connection. With a driving score by Nick Wales that features the haunting vocals of Rrawun Maymuru, a Yolngu Songman from Yirrkala (north-east Arnhem Land), this work takes on a startling new meaning for modern audiences after the challenges of the past few years.

Rafael Bonachela’s new work Summer is a trio that revels in intense proximity, with Kate Moore’s frenetic score, Cicadidae, capturing the quintessential sounds of an Australian summer. The dancers endlessly intertwine wearing a landmark collaboration between the unmistakable masters of colour Romance Was Born and the iconic Ken Done.

Pedro Greig

It has been such a pleasure to welcome Stephanie Lake and her creative team to our Wharf Studios for the creation of The Universe is Here. With costumes by Harriet Oxley, music composed by Robin Fox and live performance by harpist Emily Granger, this new work is poetic, fresh and forceful. The Universe is Here skilfully balances moments of strength, joy and earthshattering vulnerability. This is dynamic and uplifting dance that brings forward the full gambit of human emotions.

It is an intricate and complex process bringing new and existing works to the stage, one that is driven by creativity, passion, and incredibly hard work. This extraordinary new season is only possible due to the leadership and dedication of the Sydney Dance Company Board and team, together with the generous support of our government, corporate and philanthropic partners.

I would sincerely like to thank our Resound Presenting Partner LG SIGNATURE for their support of this season, as well as the ongoing support of the Australian Government delivered through the Australia Council for the Arts and the NSW Government through Create NSW.

With the unwavering commitment of all who have invested in our vision, we continue to be able to share the joy and inspiration of bringing the very best of contemporary dance to local, national and international audiences.

Please join us in celebrating this new triple bill created and performed by Australia’s most formidable artists.

Lou Oppenheim Executive Director

Photo: Pedro Greig

Choreography Rafael Bonachela Music Nick Wales featuring vocals by Rrawun Maymuru used with permission of the Mangalili Clan Lighting Design Damien Cooper Set and David Fleischer Costume Design

Ocho

A note from Artistic Director

Rafael Bonachela

Ocho means eight in Spanish. When originally creating this work in 2017, I wanted to explore the virtuosity of the solo performer. I worked one to one with each of the eight dancers in the piece, developing the physical language of each. It was a chance to really dive into the humanity of their bodies and focus in on each dancer and their uniqueness. It’s a very different way for me to approach a dance piece, to really hone in on the individual rather than structuring movement with many dancers at one time. It has been a wonderful experience exploring these solos once more with an entirely new ensemble, witnessing how they bring their own individuality to the movement.

The work takes place in an environment that is very urban, very much built by human hands. These eight dancers start in an abstracted glass box, almost under scrutiny, and they move through a physical space, which threatens to dwarf them, a factor that for me highlights the individuality of the dancers. They watch and are watched.

The physicality of the set is imposing and very solid. The work is in part about a process of moving through the edifice of this built environment. At what point do we get stuck, how do we break out of and move through these spaces?

Reexploring Ocho years later with a different cast has revealed its startling new relevance, especially after the pandemic and experience of lockdown. As the eight dancers interact with their surroundings and one another, the sense of entrapment and isolation is palpable.

I would like to thank my collaborators who played such a pivotal role in creating this world of Ocho, allowing me the opportunity to bring it to life once more. I also particularly want to thank the dancers who have invested their emotional and physical selves into the reprise of this work.

Rafael Bonachela

About Rafael Bonachela

Rafael Bonachela is a Choreographer, Artistic Director and Curator whose career has seen him successfully span high art and popular culture, working across a range of art forms, including contemporary dance, art installations, pop concerts, musicals, film, commercials and fashion.

Bonachela was born in La Garriga near Barcelona (1972) where he began his early dance training before moving to London to join the legendary Rambert Dance Company where he danced from 1992 to 2004.

In 2008, Rafael premiered his first full-length production 360° for Sydney Dance Company. Less than six months later he was appointed Artistic Director, making international headlines and heralding a new era in Australian contemporary dance. His vision for the Company embraces a guiding principle that sees commissioned dance works by Australian and International choreographers alongside his own critically acclaimed creations.

In 2022, Cartier announced Rafael as a new Friend of the Maison. From his internationally recognised talent as both a dancer and choreographer, to his commitments supporting a new generation of emerging artists and choreographers, Bonachela embodies values cherished by Cartier: strength of character, virtuosity and the ability to find beauty wherever it may lie.

Bonachela’s work is strong, sober and sharp. The exploration of pure movement is where he finds his unmistakable style. The result is an incandescent dance that springs from the power of movement, in which energy and muscle strength combine with a great emotional sensitivity.

You can read more of Rafael’s biography here

A note from Composer

Nick Wales

My first point of departure in creating the music for Ocho was to research the numerological meaning behind the number 8. I was particularly drawn to the idea of 8 being a number of balance between different forces; the material world, authority and personal power balanced with the spiritual dimensions and eternal freedom.

Rafael wanted to start the work with a series of solos, so the idea of personal power and authority is ever present in the opening abstract electronic percussive section. I worked with trumpeter Dave Elton and sound designer Bob Scott to create beds of brass textures; the trumpet personifying the idea of strength and absolute authority.

From the opening dark grandeur of the first movement, we move into more ambient explorations of the trumpet and the introduction of the ancient Persian flute, the ney. The ney is an important instrument in mystical middle eastern traditions and has been referred to, in some Persian texts, as representing the human as the symbol of the “absolute”. I juxtaposed flute passages with abstract electronica - for me the ney flute personified a spiritual path, and the electronica acting as a derailing element in this path towards the spiritual freedom of the third and final movement. The third movement balances the more aggressive first movement, exploring the eternal and spiritual aspects of the number 8. I was searching for a spiritual song to help articulate this aspect and was in

creative conversations with Rrawun Maymuru, a Yolngu songman from North East Arnhem Land. I was drawn to the rich and ancient connection to spirit, the land and the universe that his traditions embody. We discussed how a song might reflect the universal aspect of the number 8 and Rrawun offered a songline stemming from his paternal side the Mangalili clan called Nyapillilingu; the Spirit Lady. In Yolngu culture Nyapillilingu is the spirit lady that protects the passage between the Earth and the Milky Way. She looks after this land and the spirit of this land; all the way from Earth to the Milky Way to ensure safe passage between both dimensions.

This song for me spoke to the eternal and balancing aspect of number 8 and the duality between the heavens and the earth.

About Nick Wales

Nick Wales’ visceral and immersive music is a hybrid between classical forms, electronic and popular music. Nick has collaborated on nine works with Sydney Dance Company and Ocho is his seventh collaboration with Rafael Bonachela. Nick’s recent commissions include the Netflix feature film score True Spirit directed by Sarah Spillane, Sunshowers for choreographer Marina Mascarell for Ballet de l’Opéra de Lyon, Cathedral for Bundanon Trust, Zampatti for MAAS and collaborations with visual artists Lauren Brincat, Mel O’Callaghan and Hayden Fowler. Nick has worked with choreographer Shaun Parker on a number of works including the Helpmann nominated score for AM I, Happy as Larry and the outdoor works Spill and Trolleys. Nick is currently coproducing Sophie Hutchings’ new album for Mercury KX and continues to compose and collaborate with his wide and varied group of collaborators including Bree van Reyk, Veronique Serret and Sarah Blasko.

While Wales’ contemporary dance scores are both challenging and abstract, his pop sensibilities are undeniable. Traversing all genres as a founding member of ARIA nominated classical-fusion band CODA, he has also collaborated with Sarah Blasko for a number of years, the pair co-composing Sydney Dance Company’s score Emergence for Rafael Bonachela. Emergence was released as a soundtrack in 2015 via the Create Control label.

Photo: Pedro Greig

Damien Cooper Lighting Design

Note

How fantastic to have a large set for contemporary dance. It was a pleasure working with David and Rafael on this design which allows the dancers to be completely immersed in the space.

Surrounded by concrete, harsh angles of light and colour, the dancers will be able to create a psychological world that will allow you, the audience, to hopefully join them, immersed in this found hyper-real space.

Biography Damien Cooper works internationally across theatre, opera and dance. Damien’s dance credits for Sydney Dance Company include; ab [intra], Impermanence, Cinco, Ocho, Grand, Air and Other Invisible Forces and Orb.

Other dance credits include; State (Western Australian Ballet), Of Earth and Sky (Bangarra), The Narrative of Nothing, Firebird and Swan Lake (Australian Ballet), Giselle (Universal Ballet), Birdbrain, Supernature, Habitus and Be Your Self (Australian Dance Theatre), The Frock (Ten days on the Island Festival), Affinity (Tas Dance), Mortal Engine (Chunky Move) and Grey Rhino (Performing Lines).

Other theatre credits include Counting & Cracking (Edinburgh International Festival/ Belvoir), Mark Colvin’s Kidney, The Great Fire, Radiance, The Glass Menagerie, Coranderrk, Miss Julie, Stories I Want to Tell You in Person, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Peter Pan, Private Lives, Conversation Piece, Strange Interlude, Summer of the Seventeenth Doll, Neighbourhood Watch, The Seagull, Gethsemane, Keating!, Toy Symphony, Peribanez, Stuff Happens, The Chairs, The Spook, In Our Name, The Underpants and The Ham Funeral (Belvoir); Disgraced, Orlando, Arcadia, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Golden Age, Suddenly Last Summer, The Women of Troy, The Lost Echo, Riflemind and Tot Mom (Sydney Theatre Company); Macbeth and The Tempest (Bell Shakespeare); The Ring Cycle, Der Ring des Nibelungen, Aida and Cosi Fan Tutte (Opera

Australia); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Houston Grand Opera, Canadian Opera, Lyric Opera Chicago); and The Magic Flute (Lyric Opera Chicago).

For lighting design, Damien has won three Sydney Theatre Awards, three Green Room Awards, and two Australian Production Design Guild Awards.

David Fleischer Costume & Production Design

Note

Eight dancers exerting strength, stamina and virtuosity; individually, then as a group. The design for Ocho is very much a response to this initial choreographic framework Rafael conceived. Building from this, I aimed to create a space that expressed a tension between both the individual and their surrounding, but also with the others they share it with.

Rafael and I discussed the notion of a ‘DreamArchitecture’ as a means to provide context and landscape for its inhabitants. These are real, found people doing extraordinary things, expressing and communicating in abstract and dynamic ways – this is true of the space as well. There is a recognisability to the architectural language, but no single or specific reference point or identity.

Who these people are, and why they are where they are is unknown. However, we catch glimpses of these eight people in architecture that appears to have trapped them for longer than we have come to see them. The space and clothing have taken subtle cues from 90s photography of social and sub-culture portraiture as well as a swathe of religious and commercial Brutalist buildings: A candid and eclectic collage of individuals, compressed in the monumental.

Biography

David is a set and costume designer, working with leading theatre, dance and opera companies across Australia. He was co-resident designer for Sydney Theatre Company through 2012-2013, the recipient of the Kristian Fredrikson Scholarship in 2016 and received the Thelma Afford Award for Costume Design in Stage and Screen in 2020. His most recent credits include Impermanence, ab [intra] and Ocho for Sydney Dance Company; Scenes From A Marriage for Queensland Theatre; Aida for Opera Australia’s ‘Opera On The Beach’; Love And Information and Calpurnia Descending for Malthouse Theatre; Opening Night, Fangirls, A Room Of One’s Own and Hedda Gabler for Belvoir St Theatre; L’amant Jaloux and Griselda for Pinchgut Opera; and

Sydney Theatre Company’s Blithe Spirit, Death of A Salesman, Playing Beatie Bow, The Deep Blue Sea, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, The Harp In The South, Saint Joan, Top Girls, Chimerica, Australian Graffiti, Speed The Plow, Powerplays, The Golden Age, Boys Will Be Boys, Children of the Sun, Mojo, Travelling North, Machinal, Romeo and Juliet, Fury, Little Mercy, Under Milk Wood and Marriage Blanc. David is currently designing a work for Queensland Ballet.

Photo: Pedro Greig

Choreography Rafael Bonachela Music Cicadidae composed by Kate Moore, commissioned and recorded by Australian String Quartet, published / licensed by © Deuss Music, The Hague, and adapted for this performance with kind permission of Kate Moore

Lighting Design Damien Cooper Costume Design Romance Was Born and Ken Done

Rafael Bonachela & Damien Cooper

Note from Rafael Bonachela, Artistic Director

Summer is an ode to new beginnings. When we returned to the Studio after many lockdowns, we could operate in the same space, breathe the same air, but we could not touch. In this period, I choreographed Years, a work made up of 32 solos. Choreographing for the solo dancer was my only option. I knew then that Summer was the work I would make in a future where we could embrace again. I wanted to create a work that was restorative, with dancers radiating light, connecting with each other, to support, to hold and move together.

Summer was born on a Tuesday night at City Recital Hall in Angel Place. Upon hearing the score, Cicadidae, by Australian composer Kate Moore performed live by the Australian String Quartet, I immediately saw dance. Set to frenetic strings, Cicadidae mimics the stubborn calls of Cicadae - the quintessential sound of Australia summer - as they compete to attract a mate. Cicadae spend great lengths of time beneath the ground - some for nearly 17 years. On stage, this sense of re-emergence and reconnection is palpable. The dancers are beacons of colour on the bare stage. With costumes designed by the inimitable fashion house Romance Was Born in collaboration with iconic artist Ken Done, Summer emanates intense joy.

I’ve always loved creating complex interactions between dancers on the stage where they guide, manipulate, and support one another through space. My choreographic style attends closely to the body, its physicality and the mechanics of movement in time and space. In a trio, these individual interactions are brought to the fore and given even closer consideration. The unique talents and presence of Emily, Liam and Dean are key to Summer, as their individualities clash and combine to create a well of tension.

Summer emanates a soft light that is gentle yet urgent, it insists that we come together to reconnect. Three dancers glow with every articulation of the body, affirming the coming of a new season. A season of joy, of exploration and of touch.

Note from Damien Cooper, Lighting Designer An aural assault, costumes of splendour, choreography to die for. Fast, furious and ON. Do I allow the lighting to match the rhythms or do I create a frame that this world can exist in. Or both? Summer is coming!

Romance Was Born Costume Design

Note

A huge thank you to Raf for our first of hopefully many collaborations with Sydney Dance Company.

It has been such a unique and exciting experience designing the costumes for Summer. The process has been very different to making ready to wear, as you have to consider practicality and physical contact. We had big plans, but as soon as we saw Raf’s incredible choreography for the first time, we knew instantly how we would execute these designs. Making and experimenting with costumes in motion is such an exciting way to think creatively.

Our initial discussions with Raf were also very serendipitous as they coincided with our collaboration with artist Ken Done, which we showed earlier this year at Australian Fashion Week. His spirit and style are very much rooted in Australian summer, the landscape and lifestyle; and it felt like the perfect opportunity to unite his quintessentially summer prints with Raf’s creation. A big thank you to Ken Done for the use of his incredible work and constant inspiration.

It is so enriching and fulfilling for us to see our pieces being worn in a completely emotive, skilful and beautiful way that is different from how we normally present our work. The three dancers who are wearing our creations are so talented and in-tune with themselves and each other – they represent the innate spirit we’re trying to speak to with our clothing.

Biography

Romance Was Born is the contemporary Australian fashion house with a unique story telling vision. The renowned duo Anna Plunkett and Luke Sales met while studying fashion in 2005 and established the inimitable label Romance Was Born. The pair are known for their ability to transform any theme or seemingly random inspiration into a glimmering fashion paradise. Their collections are full of breathtaking statement pieces and feature; covetable prints, hand worked details of

appliqué or embroidery, intricate beading and intensely detailed sequinned elements.

Romance Was Born is held in costume and textile collections both nationally and internationally. Working with collaborators who share their creative passion and dedication is an integral part of their design process, having collaborated with artists and brands including May Gibbs, Linda Jackson, Jenny Kee, Disney and Marvel. The design duo have garnered respect for their extravagant and theatrical runway shows. Those who famously wear their collections include style mavericks and mavens such as; Cate Blanchett, Roisin Murphy, Nicki Minaj.

Ken Done Costume Design

Biography

Since his first solo exhibition in 1980, Ken Done has become one of Australia’s most famous artists. His work has been described as the most original style to come out of Australia, and his paintings are in collections throughout the world. He has held over 100 one-man shows, including major exhibitions in Australia, Europe, Japan and the USA, and his works have been shown in the Archibald, Sulman, Wynne, Blake, and Dobell Prizes.

Major projects in a very diverse career include the painting of a BMW Artcar, and the total decorative scheme for the Garden Restaurant at the Powerhouse Museum, in Sydney. In 2002 the Museum acquired his commercial art and design archive of more than 300 items. Tokyo fashion and lifestyle magazine Hanako featured a Ken Done painting on the cover every week for over 15 years, and in 1999 Done was asked to create a series of works for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies programs of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games.

Ken has been a Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF since 1988, and received the Order of Australia (A.M.), for services to Art, Design and Tourism in 1992. In many parts of the world, Ken Done has come to symbolise Australia and Australians: creative, optimistic and bold.

Kate Moore Composer

Note

Cicadidae was written as a homage to the sound of cicadas in the summertime and the way in which their chorus demonstrates astounding and fascinating sonic effects, which are evocative, captivating, addictive and inspiring in the way that seemingly millions of the tiny chanters suddenly change their song simultaneously, passing complex rhythmic motives across the landscape contributing to a giant bushland choir performing a mysterious and compelling composition written by an unseen hand.

Biography Kate Moore is an internationally acclaimed composer. Her works are performed by Asko|Schönberg, Bang on a Can, Icebreaker, Slagwerk Den Haag, The Hebrides Ensemble, Ensemble Offspring, the Australian String Quartet, The Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra and Groot Omroepkoor, among others. In 2022 Moore received the inaugural prize, the Gieskes-Strijbis Podiumprijs for her contribution to the performing arts. In 2017, Kate was awarded the most prestigious Dutch composition award, The Matthijs Vermeulen Prize. Her works have been released on labels including ECM New Series, Cantaloupe, Unsounds, Tall Poppies among others and she is published by Deuss Music Publishers.

Photo: Pedro Greig

Choreography Stephanie Lake

Robin Fox

Harriet Oxley

Damien Cooper Harpist Emily Granger

A note from Choreographer Stephanie Lake

When I got the exciting call from Rafael inviting me to create a new work for the company, it was 2021 and Melbourne was in the midst of deep, dark lockdown. At that stage we were permitted out of the house for just one hour a day and the world felt very small. That call could not have come at a better time. I blurted out a ‘yes’ before the invitation was even complete.

Within that very first conversation the image of a harp floated into my mind. The harp - the very emblem of celestial transcendence, beauty, purity. I started to envisage a work that opened like a fairytale with an embryonic sound unfurling in the darkness, like a bud gently pushing through soil ready to bloom; a portal to another place, an escapist fantasy. And what is the story that follows? Where do we go from there? To a world of intensity, rhythm and primal physicality. Alongside the brilliant dancers and collaborators, we have been on a ride exploring ritual, rupture, formality, humour, voice and relationships.

The Universe is Here is intended as a work of beauty, in the classical sense, but it also contains the beauty of brokenness, the beauty of beastliness, the beauty of sadness. I’ve been drawn to ambiguities and contradictions. Nothing is certain. Everything changes. Hold onto those you love.

About Stephanie Lake

Stephanie Lake is a multi-award winning choreographer and the artistic director of Stephanie Lake Company based in Melbourne. Her major works include Manifesto, Colossus, Skeleton Tree, Pile of Bones, AORTA, Replica, A Small Prometheus, Double Blind, Mix Tape and DUAL.

Her works have toured across Australia and internationally to Theatre Chaillot Paris, Germany, Denmark, Spain, Scotland, Ireland, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taipei, Belgium, Luxembourg and New Zealand. Lake has previously created works for Sydney Dance Company, as well as many other companies including Chunky Move, Queensland Ballet, Dancenorth, New Zealand Dance Company, Tasdance, Frontier Danceland (Singapore), Expressions Dance Company and Beijing Dance/LDTX.

Lake is a recipient of the prestigious Sidney Myer Creative Fellowship, Australia Council Fellowship and Dame Peggy Van Praagh Choreographic Fellowship. She has been awarded Helpmann, Australian Dance and Green Room Awards for Best Choreography. Lake danced for Lucy Guerin, Chunky Move and BalletLab for nearly twenty years, touring widely. She collaborates across theatre, film, visual art and music video and has directed many largescale public choreographies involving over 1500 participants.

Harriet Oxley & Damien Cooper

Note from Harriet Oxley, Costume Designer

The design for The Universe is Here began for me, as it usually does, with colour. When Steph described her concept of an all-white stage, blinding lighting effects, and a live harp, I immediately visualised the dancers in a golden yellow colour. The shine of the textures helps to amplify that idea - to create a shimmering, golden, beautiful, otherworldly landscape. The idea of the boxing shorts evolved out of seeing Steph’s extremely physical choreography. I was very interested in incorporating the idea of strings or an arterial network into the costumes (also to do with the strings of the harp), so I love that we were able to use lacing in a way that references both the harp and boxing gloves. The different top styles are intended to complement the boxing style but also counterweight it with some delicacy, fluidity and lightness. The design aims straddle the middle ground (as the other elements do) - between extreme energy, strength, physicality and heightened beauty.

Biography, Harriet Oxley

A graduate of VCA (Theatre design) and RMIT (Fashion design), Harriet has designed and created costumes for dance, opera, circus and theatre companies across Australia since 2005. Collaborations with companies in recent years include Entity (Back to Back Theatre) Die Walkure, Das Rheingold, The Flying Dutchman, Norma. (Melbourne Opera); Us 50, Neon Aether (Sydney Dance Company); Red, Dust, Attractor (Dancenorth, QLD); Nether, Anti-Gravity (Chunky Move); Pendulum, The Dark Chorus (Lucy Guerin Inc); Multiply, Colossus, Pile of Bones (Stephanie Lake Company); Laughter and Tears, Into the Woods (Victorian Opera); The Temple (Malthouse Theatre/ Pan Pan UK); and Wunderage, Aurora (Circus Oz).

Harriet collaborated on acclaimed independent productions Future History (Gabrielle Nankivell, SA) One Infinity (Beijing Dance Theatre/ Jun Tiang Fang/ Playking Productions), In Plan (Michelle Heaven) and If These Walls Could Talk (Dislocate Physical Theatre).

Harriet has been nominated for several Green Room Awards, winning once for design in Opera.

Note from Damien Cooper, Lighting Design

This piece is fierce, but I should probably not give that away. Please enjoy the gentle tones of Emily’s harp, Harriet’s lovely clothes and Stephanie’s graceful choreography. The light will shine bright on this world, but ...

Photo: Pedro Greig

Robin Fox Composer

Note

Whenever Stephanie and I start a process, I ask for adjectives. Anything to get started experimenting with a sound world. For this work Stephanie wanted to work with a live harp and then said, “Just write the most beautiful piece of music ever made.” Obviously an impossible brief, but definitely a starting point. At the outset I wanted the whole sonic universe to come from the harp. Emily Granger ushers the world in beautifully and then sings the work out impeccably with flawless acoustic playing. It has been such a pleasure to work with her. Most of the other pieces are made from a series of recordings made with Marshall McGuire in Melbourne (also amazing to work with). I wanted to move from the acoustic - through the electroacoustic - and return back to earth with human articulation. Eventually it was clear that the universe is bigger than the harp alone! The work needed more. I had recently recorded a lightning strike that had landed 50 metres from our house. This recording and a surging electrical whitenoise track eventually rounded out the sound world. Working with Stephanie is always a dream. Her endlessly iterative choreography is always inspirational and a source of wonder for me.

Biography

Robin Fox is an internationally recognised Australian based audio-visual artist working across live performance, exhibitions, public art and composition for contemporary dance. His audio visual laser works, which synchronise sound & visual electricity in hyper-amplified 3D space, have been performed in over 60 cities worldwide. His critically acclaimed work Single Origin premiered at Unsound Krakow late 2017 and has toured extensively since with highlights including headline shows at Berlin Atonal, Semibreve (Braga), Mutek (Montreal and Mexico), Sonica (Kings Place London) among many others. Recent large scale audio-visual works include Night Sky for Brisbane Festival, Aqua Luma for Mona Foma 2021, Library of Light for Illuminate Adelaide 2021, BEACON for Mona Foma 2022 and MONOCHORD for Rising Festival 2022. In 2019 his science fiction opera DIASPORA premiered at the Melbourne International Arts Festival. Made in collaboration with Chamber Made the work won the Green Room Award for Best Production and Best Visual Design.

Since 2008, Robin has composed music for over 25 contemporary dance works (many nominated for Green Room and Helpmann Awards) working with Australian choreographic luminaries Stephanie Lake, Gideon Obarzanek, Lucy Guerin and Antony Hamilton. Recent highlights include Stephanie Lake Company’s MANIFESTO (a score for 9 drum kits) and COLOSSUS. His ground-breaking work with Chunky Move contributed to the work Mortal Engine receiving a Helpmann Award for Best Visual Production and an honourable mention at the illustrious Prix Ars Electronica.

In 2016 he became the founding director of MESS (Melbourne Electronic Sound Studio), a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to giving everyone access to the entire history of electronic musical instruments. Robin holds a PhD in composition from Monash University and an MA in musicology. The latter documents the history of experimental music in Melbourne 1975-1979.

Emily Granger Harpist

Biography American-Australian harpist Emily Granger

effortlessly straddles the worlds of classical, popular, and art music – her considerable talent finds her equally at home in intimate chamber recitals and thrilling performances of daring new works.

Emily has performed recitals from Carnegie Hall to the Kennedy Center and has appeared with the Chicago, Sydney, Tasmanian and Queensland Symphony Orchestras. Her debut solo album, In Transit (AVIE Records), was Featured Album on ABC Classic, reached #2 on the ARIA Classical Chart, and has had over one million streams in the first six months. BBC Music Magazine praised the album as “beautiful” and Limelight Magazine as “an impressive debut.”

Emily was a Finalist in the 2021 Art Music Awards for Performance of the Year for her interpretation of Ross Edwards’ solo, The Harp and The Moon and a finalist in the 2022 Freedman Classical Fellowship. When not traveling the world concertizing, you can find this avid walker in the backcountry. Granger successfully walked Te Araroa - a 3,000-kilometre trail across New Zealand taking 138 days to complete the journey from Cape Reinga to Bluff. Emily is represented by Tier 1 Arts.

Photo: Pedro Greig

Tamara Bouman

Born in Sydney on Gadigal Land, Tamara started her dance training at the age of three with the Northern Beaches Dance Academy. She trained at various schools including Warringah Performing Arts, The Village Performing Arts and Brent Street, alongside classical training at Tanya Pearson’s Classical Coaching Academy. In 2019 Tamara graduated from the Victorian College of the Arts with a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Dance). Tamara made her professional debut in Colossus with the Stephanie Lake Company (2018-2020) and has since performed and worked with various independent artists and companies in the realms of contemporary dance, contemporary circus, children’s educational dance performances and physical theatre. Tamara joined Sydney Dance Company in May 2022 and made her debut with the Company for their national tour of Rafael Bonachela’s Impermanence in June.

Dean Elliott

Dean began his dance training in Auckland, New Zealand at age 17. In 2018, he graduated from Ev and Bow Full-time Dance Training Centre in Sydney. During his time there, he worked with many Australian dance professionals and performed in works by choreographers Larissa McGowan, Anton, Robbie Curtis and Adam Blanch. In 2018, Dean appeared as a special guest artist in the Sydney City Youth Ballet’s Australian Tour of Together Live, performing in Lucas Jervies’ PowerHouse. Dean played the role of Young Brett Whitely in Theatre of Image’s Brett and Wendy… A Love Story Bound by Art directed by Kim Carpenter and choreographed by Lucas Jervies. Dean joined Sydney Dance Company in 2019.

Jacopo Grabar

Italian born Jacopo trained at Ateneo della Danza in Siena. In 2012 he joined Balletto di Siena as an apprentice and graduated to full time dancer in season 2013 –14. Jacopo received his American Ballet Theatre NTC diploma in 2013, before joining Baltic Dance Theatre (Gdańsk, Poland) the following year where he worked with choreographers including Jiří Kylián, Patrick Delcroix and the director, Izadora Weiss. In 2015 he joined ImPerfect Dancers Company (Pisa, Italy), directed by Walter Matteini and Ina Broeckx and in August 2016 joined Ballet des Stadttheater Bremerhaven, under the direction of Sergei Vanaev, where he worked with Itzik Galili and Ed Wubbe. Jacopo joined Sydney Dance Company in August 2018.

Liam Green

Having grown up in Perth, Liam trained with a range of local schools, including Dynamic Performing Arts and The Graduate College of Dance. At 15, Liam was accepted into the Advanced Diploma of Dance at WAAPA, the youngest to enter the program. Liam worked with the West Australian Ballet for five years, ending his time at the Company as a DemiSoloist, before joining Sydney Dance Company in 2019. Liam’s repertoire is expansive and diverse, including works such as Radio and Juliet by Edward Clug, In Transit by Annabelle Lopez Ochoa and WOOF by Melanie Lane. Liam has also completed a Bachelor of Commerce, majoring in Finance and Economics, at The University of Western Australia.

Luke Hayward

Luke was born in Alice Springs and received his early training at Central Dance Theatre and Alice Springs Gymnastics before moving to Sydney to train at Tanya Pearson’s Classical Coaching Academy and Studio Tibor. He then furthered his studies in Germany by completing a Bachelor of Dance at Palucca Hochschule für Tanz Dresden. While there, Luke interned at Yuval Pick’s National Choreographic Center De Rillieux-la-Pape and Elena Tupyseva’s Balet Moskva. Upon graduating with Honours, he received the Ingrid-BiedenkopfStipendium and accepted a contract with Theater Balet Moskva in Moscow, where he joined their Ballet troupe and Contemporary troupe as a Soloist for the 2016/17 Season. Luke joined Sydney Dance Company in 2019 and has worked with an extensive array of choreographers including Rafael Bonachela, Gabrielle Nankivell, Melanie Lane, Gideon Obarzanek and Ohad Naharin.

Morgan Hurrell

Born and raised in Mudgee NSW, Morgan began her early training at age 2 and attended Dance Unlimited until 2019. Focusing on her passion for contemporary dance, at age 17 Morgan had numerous offers for full-time placements. She accepted an offer to attend National College of Dance in Newcastle where she completed her Diploma of Dance. In 2021 Morgan moved to Sydney to study an Advanced Diploma of Dance with Sydney Dance Company’s Pre-Professional Year. She joined Sydney Dance Company as a Trainee at the end of 2021, supported by The Wales Family, and her first onstage performance with the Company was in Jacopo Grabar’s work Stereotipo for New Breed 2021.

Sophie Jones

Sophie grew up in Angourie NSW and trained with Adele Lewis School of Dance. At the age of 14 she moved to Burleigh Heads, Queensland to begin full time ballet training and further her studies with Prudence Bowen Atelier. After extensive years of training she received a traineeship with the Joffrey Ballet in Chicago where she worked with numerous choreographers and performed Etudes by Harald Lander, and George Balanchine’s Serenade. After discovering an interest in contemporary dance, Sophie completed her diploma and advanced diploma with Sydney Dance Company’s Pre Professional Year in 2020 and 2021. During this time she had the opportunity to perform works by Holly Doyle, Omer Backley-Astrachan, Jessica Goodfellow and Rafael Bonachela. Sophie joined Sydney Dance Company as a Trainee in January 2022, supported by the David and Fee Hancock Foundation.

Rhys Kosakowski

Rhys Kosakowski, a classical ballet and contemporary dancer originally from Newcastle, strives to embrace his creativity through the art of rhythm and dance. Rhys’ passion for movement has propelled him to success; he performed with Houston Ballet Company for 6 years as a Corps de Ballet dancer and played Billy in Billy Elliot The Musical (Australia 2007) as one of the original four Billys. After slowly building a following in the dance industry, Rhys entered the fashion industry and has shot with globally known photographers whilst also collaborating with artists and videographers. Rhys is passionate about combining the qualities of fashion and artistry with the movement of dancing. Rhys joined Sydney Dance Company in 2020.

Chloe Leong

Chloe started dancing at the age of six at Sydney’s Brent Street studios, and later studied at Lindfield’s Ecole Ballet and Dance Theatre. In 2010 she completed three years training at London’s Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance. Chloe moved to Barcelona in 2012 to join the junior contemporary company IT Dansa under the direction of Catherine Allard. During her two years with the Company she performed works by Rafael Bonachela, Alexander Ekman, Ohad Naharin and Sidi Labi Cherkaoui. Chloe joined Sydney Dance Company in 2015. She won the 2015 Helpmann Award for ‘Best Female Dancer’ for her performance in William Forsythe’s Quintett. Chloe made her choreographic debut in New Breed 2020 with her piece Nostalgia.

Connor McMahon

Connor began training at Planetdance in Sydney, Australia and continued his contemporary dance training at Ev & Bow, receiving his Diploma of Dance in 2021. During his final year, Connor made his musical theatre debut as Baby John in Opera Australia/GWB Entertainment’s production of West Side Story in Perth, WA, which toured nationally. Since graduating, Connor has performed in Sydney Choreographic Centre’s production Galileo with Francesco Ventriglia. Connor joined Sydney Dance Company in July 2022.

Chris Mills

Chris Mills was brought up on the Kapiti coast in New Zealand, where he danced at his local studio, Judith Fuge Dance School before continuing into four years of full-time training at the New Zealand School Of Dance. Upon graduating, Chris was invited to join Australian Dance Theatre and remained with the company from 2016 till 2021 under the Artistic Directorship of Garry Stewart. In his time at the company, Chris performed in works by Garry Stewart, Adrianne Semmens, Ina Christel Johannessen, Alison Currie, Philippe Kratz and Lina Limosani. Chris toured with the company across Europe, America, South America and Australia. At the beginning of 2022 Chris taught at the New Zealand School of Dance. During this time he joined the New Zealand Dance Company for a short tour of the North Island, working with choreographer Sean MacDonald. Chris joined Sydney Dance Company in August 2022 and will make his debut with the company in Resound.

Jesse Scales

Born in Hobart, Jesse is from Adelaide where they trained with Terry Simpson and received the RAD Solo Seal. They received full scholarships to study with Complexions Contemporary Ballet in New York and Nederlands Dans Theatre in The Hague and went on to major in classical ballet at the New Zealand School of Dance. Since joining Sydney Dance Company in 2012, Jesse performed a feature role in the Australian premiere of William Forsythe’s Quintett for which they were awarded the 2015 Green Room Award for ‘Best Female Dancer’ and a nomination for the 2015 Helpmann Award for ‘Best Female Dancer’. Jesse made their choreographic debut in Sydney Dance Company’s 2016 New Breed season, and choreographed Inertia in New Breed 2020. In 2017, the Dance Australia Critics’ Choice Survey named Jesse as ‘Most Outstanding Dancer’.

Emily Seymour

Sydney born, Emily Seymour began her training in all styles of dance at All Starz Performing Arts Studio and later studied full-time ballet at Tanya Pearson Classical Coaching Academy. In 2016, Emily was a member of Houston Ballet II for two years, following a year as an Apprentice with Houston Ballet Company. While in Houston, Emily performed in works by Stanton Welch, Alexander Ekman, John Neumeier, George Balanchine and many more. Emily joined West Australian Ballet as a Young Artist for one year before joining Sydney Dance Company in 2018. Emily’s first performance with the Company was at the Théâtre National De Chaillot in Paris, followed by Sydney Dance Company’s European Spring Tour. Since joining the Company, Emily has performed in Rafael Bonachela’s ab [intra], Frame of Mind and Lux Tenebris; Melanie Lane’s WOOF; and Gabrielle Nankivell’s Wildebeest and Neon Aether.

Kai Taberner is an emerging contemporary movement artist and choreographer. Originally from Sydney, Kai Taberner acquired an interest in ballet and contemporary dance at the age of 12, training with the Valerie Jenkins Academy of Ballet and the NSW public schools dance ensembles. In 2021, Kai graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Dance Performance) from QUT in Brisbane. Kai has performed both nationally and internationally and made his choreographic debut at NIDA in 2019 with Axis Trajected Using his multidisciplinary skills, Kai has performed for a range of Company’s in various styles, including Oblaat for Supercell: Festival of Contemporary Dance in Brisbane (2020), Leviathan with Circa Contemporary Circus (2020), The Australian Ballet premiere of The Creatures of Prometheus by Jayden Grogan (2021), Cirque Bon Bon at Brisbane Powerhouse (2021), and lndependance with Phluxus2Dance Collective (2020 and 2021). Kai joined Sydney Dance Company in 2022 and made his performance debut with the Company in ab [intra].

Mia Thompson Mia was born in Queensland and started her dance training at the age of four with the Yvonne Brittain Dance Academy. She went on to join Queensland Ballet’s Pre-Professional Year in 2010 where she performed alongside the Company in many productions. In 2011 Mia joined West Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA). After completing two years at WAAPA, Mia accepted a job with Queensland Ballet under the directorship of Li Cunxin. After three years with the Queensland Ballet, Mia joined Scottish Ballet as an artist in 2016 and was promoted to First Artist in 2018. Her highlights include the role of the Sugar Plum Fairy in Peter Darrell’s The Nutcracker Mia joined Sydney Dance Company in January 2019.

Kai Taberner

Coco Wood

Born in Ballarat, Victoria, Coco started training at the Kerry Moore School of Ballet. In 2015 she was accepted into the Victorian College of the Arts Secondary School in Melbourne where she spent 4 years. While at VCASS she performed in many works, notably Tim Harbour’s contemporary work Romeo and Juliet and Jonathon Taylor’s Summer’s End. At the end of her schooling, Coco was accepted into third year of the Bachelor’s Degree (Honours) at the Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance in London. In 2020, Coco was accepted into Sydney Dance Company’s Pre-Professional Year program, where she engaged in works by Holly Doyle, Jessica Goodfellow, Omer Backley-Astrachan and Rafael Bonachela. In 2021, Coco performed in Rhiannon Newton’s The Gift of a Warning for New Breed and joined Sydney Dance Company as a Trainee in 2022, supported by The Wales Family.

Chloe Young Chloe graduated from Queensland National Ballet’s Advanced Diploma in Elite Performance in 2016. Chloe performed with Queensland National Ballet School as Alice in Alice in Wonderland, a soloist in Mulan, and Phyrgia in Spartacus, as well as a special guest at the Alana Haines Australian Awards (2017) and the Press Freedom Dinner (2017). In 2017, Chloe graduated from Sydney Dance Company’s Pre-Professional Year and joined the Company as Trainee in 2018. Chloe’s first onstage performance with the Company was in Rafael Bonachela’s award winning works Frame Of Mind and Lux Tenebris during the Company’s South America Tour to Chile and Colombia in 2018. She has since performed in Rafael Bonachela’s Cinco, ab [intra] and Impermanence, as well as Gabrielle Nankivell’s Wildebeest, Antony Hamilton’s Forever and Ever and Melanie Lane’s WOOF

Richard Cilli, Rehearsal Director

Born in Boorloo (Perth), Richard Cilli trained at WAAPA and Taipei National University of the Arts before joining Sydney Dance Company in 2009. His international performing career has seen him work with a range of choreographers including Rafael Bonachela, Lloyd Newson, Stephanie Lake, Anouk van Dijk, Jacopo Godani, Lucy Guerin, Gideon Obarzanek, Alexander Ekman, Adam Linder, Emanuel Gat and Kenneth Kvarnström,

Richard has danced with Sydney Dance Company, Rambert, Chunky Move, Australasian Dance Collective, Dancenorth, Lucy Guerin Inc. and K.Kvarnström & Co (Sweden). In 2010 he was awarded the Helpmann for best male dancer for his performance in Rafael Bonachela’s we unfold, and in 2012 won the Australian Ballet’s 50th Anniversary Ballet Competition.

As a choreographer he has created work for Sydney Dance Company, The Australian Ballet, Pre-Professional Year, LINK Dance Company and WAAPA, as well as various independently produced works. A certified Countertechnique teacher, Richard has taught at institutions around Australia and the world, including the 2019 One Body, One Career intensive in Montreal, Canada.

Richard assumed the role of Rehearsal Director at Sydney Dance Company in 2021. Since then he has worked on Impermanence national tour, Bonachela’s dance film Years, New Breed 2021, Ohad Naharin’s Decadance, and the French tour of ab [intra].

Charmene Yap

Charmene Yap, Rehearsal Associate Charmene Yap is a multi-award-winning dancer, rehearsal director and choreographer. She is a graduate of the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts and Purchase College New York. In her early career, Charmene was a recipient of an Australian Council Skills and Development Grant and nominee of the prestigious Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative Award.

Prior to her decade of performing with Sydney Dance Company, Charmene danced for companies Chunky Move, Tasdance, Dancenorth, Lucy Guerin Inc., Armitage Gone! Dance Company and worked with numerous choreographers including Tanja Liedtke and Antony Hamilton. She has featured in films including Think Of Yourself As Plural by David Rosetzky, Del Kathryn Barton’s Red, and Katie Noonan’s music video Quicksand. Charmene joined Sydney Dance Company as a dancer in 2010, performing the majority of works by Artistic Director Rafael Bonachela, and other Australian and international choreographers including William Forsythe, Alexander Ekman and Stephanie Lake. She has won numerous awards including the Helpmann Award for Best Female Dancer in 2012, the Australian Dance Award in 2013 for 2 One Another, and the Helpmann Award for Best Female Dancer in 2014 for 2 in D Minor

As a choreographer, Charmene has created for stage, short films, music clips and fashion shows. This includes Grey Rhino with cochoreographer Cass Mortimer Eipper, which premiered in Sydney Festival 2022, and works performed by Sydney Dance Company and Co3 Company. She was choreographer/movement director for Belvoir’s new work Tell Me I’m Here, and assistant choreographer for Gideon Obarzanek’s Us 50 which celebrated Sydney Dance Company’s 50th Anniversary.

In September 2019, Charmene commenced her role as Sydney Dance Company’s inaugural Rehearsal Associate, supported by the Nelson Meers Foundation and Sydney Dance Company’s Dancers’ Circle, working with the company’s artistic and education departments.

Charmene will choreograph a new work as part of our ninth New Breed season in November, co-presented with Carriageworks and supported by The Balnaves Foundation.

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Our Partners

We would like to thank all our Partners, both acknowledged and anonymous, for their generous support.

Our Partners make it possible for us to create and present new work, inspire future generations of dancers and audiences, extend our reach and plan for the future. We couldn’t do it without you! If you would like more information about joining our family, please contact our Philanthropy Team on 02 9258 4882 or email philanthropy@ sydneydancecompany.com.

Platinum Partners A special thank you to our Platinum Partners for their enduring commitment and passion for Sydney Dance Company.

Robert Albert AO & Elizabeth Albert

The Balnaves Foundation Jane & Andrew Clifford Crown Resorts

Knights AO & Lizanne Knights

Jules Maxwell Andrew Messenger Naomi Milgrom AC Naomi Milgrom

Neilson Foundation Judith Neilson AM Packer Family

Gretel Packer AM Thyne Reid

The Wales Family

Carla Zampatti

Mary Zuber

Take A Step & Take A Seat Campaigns

The next step has been taken and our home has been transformed, ready to welcome the next generation of dancers. We would like to thank everyone, both acknowledged and anonymous, for their visionary support of our Take A Step and Take A Seat Campaigns. They have enabled the transformation of our physical space and underpinned our creativity for decades to come.

Take a Step NSW Government

The Neilson Foundation

Wales Family Jane & Andrew Clifford Catriona Mordant

Simon

The late Carla

Bonachela

Joe

Logan Boyle

Liz Brownie

late

Richard

Lynch

the late

Morris

Payn

Read

Reeve

Jaycen Fletcher

Stern

Taylor

Wynne

a

& Libby Albert

David Friedlander

memory

Nick Read

&

Dancers’

which

Carla Zampatti

With visionary support from the Carla Zampatti

& Doug Bartlett, David & Selina Baxby, Black Diamondz

Concierge, Paul

& Christine Yip, Jillian

& Olev Rahn, Cullman

Fund, Belinda

Kiera Grant & Mark Tallis, Kathryn Greiner AO, John Head, Linda Herd,

Kenneth Howison, John Griffiths & Beth Jackson,

K Kemp, Katie Lahey

Patron: Julian Knights

Agnew

James Baillie

& Christine Yip

the late

Clegg

&

& Andrew

David Mathlin & Camilla

Jules Maxwell, In memory of Nola McCullagh, Beau Neilson,

Lizzi

Newton &

Paxton

Rahn

& Peter Shorthouse

Smithson

Smithson

Staunton

In 2022, Cartier announced Artistic Director of Sydney Dance Company, Rafael Bonachela, as a new Friend of the Maison.

The announcement was made on the occasion of Cartier’s High Jewellery Gala in Australia, in which Bonachela choreographed an exclusive duet – performed by Sydney Dance Company – to celebrate the powerful emotion of Cartier’s High Jewellery creations.

As a Friend of the Maison, Bonachela will continue collaborate with Cartier on various events and performances.

“We are delighted to announce our partnership with Rafael,” said Alban du Mesnil, Managing Director of Cartier Oceania. “As a man of passion, open-mindedness and creativity, Rafael’s bold approach to life – conveyed through his professional choices as Artistic Director of Sydney Dance Company, and his free-spirited style – is intrinsically aligned with Cartier’s core values.”

Rafael Bonachela said, “Fostering artistic expression is at the core of Cartier’s commitments. It is extremely important to me to be aligned with a Maison that has this focus at the centre of everything that they do. As a choreographer my goal is to inspire, uplift and move audiences with the power and beauty of dance - Cartier shares these same values when it comes to their rich history and iconic creations.”

Sydney Dance Company welcomes Cartier as Major Partner and Artistic Director Partner. Together, they look forward to a vibrant future of collaboration, celebrating art and beauty wherever it may lie.

Board of Directors

Ian Narev (Chair)

Senior Producer Ben White

Ann Johnson (Deputy Chair)

Board of Directors

Ian Narev (Chair)

Anita Belgiorno-Nettis AM

Senior Producer Ben White

Ann Johnson (Deputy Chair)

David Craig

Venue Manager Ben Stern

Anita Belgiorno-Nettis AM

David Craig

Patrick McIntyre Heather Mitchell AM

Venue Manager Ben Stern

Anne Dunn

Heather Mitchell AM

Gretel Packer AM Mark Scott AO

Venue and Events Coordinator Hannah Waters

Gretel Packer AM

Mark Scott AO

Annette Shun Wah Michael Triguboff Kip Williams

Annette Shun Wah Michael Triguboff Kip Williams

Venue and Events Coordinator Kendra Murphy

Head of Technical Operations Andrew Richards

Head of Technical Operations Andrew Richards Building Services Manager Barry Carr Box Office Manager Dominic Scarf Staging Manager Chris Fleming

Building Services Manager Barry Carr Box Office Manager Chelsea Nelson Staging Manager Stephen Mason

Staging Supervisors Chris Fleming David Tongs Maite Masch Marchiori

Staging Supervisors David Tongs Maite Masch Marchiori

Sound and Video Manager Ben Lightowlers

Fly Supervisor Zac White Sound and Video Manager Ben Lightowlers

Sound and Video Supervisors Hayley Forward Luke Davis

Lighting Manager Josh Neufeld

Sound and Video Supervisors Hayley Forward Luke Davis

Michael Hedges

Lighting Manager Andrew Tompkins

Lighting Supervisors Andrew Tompkins Kyle Morey Raff Watt

Lighting Supervisors Alex Mair Jesse Greig

Photo: Pedro Greig

Photo: Pedro Greig