Dancer’s Report

Starting off our 2022 year with a bang the company made it back on stage at the Sydney Opera House as part of the Sydney festival, performing Decadance by Ohad Naharin.

After a tentative and rocky 2021 we did everything in our power to prepare for this incredible event. Starting our performance preparations in December 2021 we were conscious that we needed to be well prepared. We expanded our movement vocabulary and learnt a great deal of patience and adaptability. Despite the rise in COVID cases around us in NSW we persevered with caution and took all safety measures to ensure we made it to the stage - and we did! Once in the theatre we worked closely with Ohad as he shared his precise details and added his final words of wisdom. All the hard work, caution and hours developing in the studio paid off as we made it to our opening night through to closing with great success, a memory and achievement we will cherish and celebrate for years to come.

One moment from the year that seemed impossible to have imagined a year ago was our tour to France. Having such a career highlighting debut for myself, performing the Cadenza Duet from ab [intra] at the jam packed Théâtre National de Chaillot in Paris. Having watched ab [Intra] back in 2018 while auditioning for the company, I was struck by this beautiful work and was dying to be a part of that world. I remember being mesmerised by the intricate partnering, movement quality and pure power of the duet performed so gracefully and subtly by Charmene Yap and Davide Di Giovanni. The joy of performing this work in 2022 in Paris to a full audience was a dream.

We were graciously hosted by the Australian Embassy in Paris and the views were mind blowing, towering over the city skyline and looking straight on to the Eiffel Tower, rest assured we took plenty of photos! After two weeks in Paris the company were off to Arcachon and Mont-deMarsan. We had an incredible time exploring the cities and meeting the amazing people that helped make the tour possible. The dancers and crew were hosted by the inspiring Dame Darcey Bussell DBE at her château, and it was a beautiful day spent laughing, eating and talking all things dance and beyond. We felt so honoured to be hosted by such special people, we all left feeling like we found a home away from home.

With eight beautiful shows at the Roslyn Packer Theatre we wrapped up our ab [Intra] Sydney season on the Saturday night, with huge success, and by Monday we were on the road for the national tour of Impermanence. The dancers were so happy to be back on the road performing for our audiences and after not having done so for quite some time we were ready to show our regional towns just what they, and we, had been missing out on. As a Queenslander myself, having not made it on that leg of the tour two years prior, I was thrilled to have made it home in 2022 performing for my family for the first time in seven years.

The regional tour is always a highlight for the dancers, we have amazing opportunities to see the beautiful country we live in while performing and delivering creative workshops in towns big and small. The tour to Western Australia left a big imprint on my mind with so much to see visually but also having the opportunity to return to the place where I found who I was as an artist. Liam Green and I returned to the school we both trained at (West Australian Academy of Performing Arts) to deliver workshops to current students. It was amazing for our teachers to be able to share with the students two graduates now working professionally in the dance industry, but equally as amazing for Liam and I to share the knowledge and growth we have both gained with Sydney Dance Company.

2022 was a year full of collaborations with beautiful artists. Travelling around regional Australia we were joined by the brilliant Australian String Quartet (ASQ). It was thrilling having them on stage with us again, and we took every opportunity to connect on and off stage. The ASQ had a performance while in Albany that all the touring company went to watch, it was spectacular and inspired us all for our show together the following night. Another momentous collaboration was in Melbourne for Dance X, organised by The Australian Ballet, we opened part one of the festival with an excerpt from ab [intra] which was then followed by The Australian Ballet, Lucy Guerin and Bangarra Dance Theatre. This collaboration saw an incredible fusion of dance artists and creatives all coming together cohesively to celebrate our beautiful art form, a collaboration we all felt was long overdue and allowed us all to make lifelong connections.

Back in Sydney at our newly renovated Wharf studios, for the first time since February, it was nice to feel at home, and having been on the road for so much of the year we hadn’t had the chance to truly enjoy our facilities. Our new physiotherapy/ fitness room and pilates space were in full swing (which we took full advantage of), and the hallways and studios were packed with dancers coming to and from classes. It was great to be back in the Sydney Dance Company Wharf studio rush again.

Our final Roslyn Packer Theatre season of the year saw us working with the beautiful choreographer Stephanie Lake, her generosity, kindness and openness to our own choreographic choices made for an extremely easy and united process that radiated through her choreography on stage.

Onto our final season of the year New Breed 2022, which offers new up and coming choreographers a chance to work with us, and we saw incredibly talented choreographers Sophia Ndaba, Luke Hayward, Charmene Yap and Jenni Large’s works shine. With each choreographer there is so much variety and individuality to be shared, the New Breed season always offers us dancers’ chances to expand our minds and creativity. New Breed is the process that keeps on giving.

Working as an ensemble member for Sydney Dance Company allows us to come together as people and collaborators in such extraordinary ways, we get to travel the world and our beautiful country while sharing the art form we love so much. There is so much to discover about yourself as an artist in Sydney Dance Company and it’s something I feel will never stop developing. We are encouraged every day to expand our individuality and given tools and chances by working with different choreographers every year to expand our movement vocabulary. 2022 was an incredible example of the sheer drive and determination of Sydney Dance Company and the people working within it.