Return to the Wharf

After two and a half years in temporary studios in Ultimo’s Wattle Street, works on Sydney Dance Company’s traditional home in the Walsh Bay Arts Precinct concluded in November 2020 and the Company moved back into the Wharf. The quirky, creaky, century-old Wharf has been synonymous with Sydney Dance Company since Graeme Murphy and Janet Vernon made it home in 1986. Years of planning and a significant commitment from the NSW Government to revitalising the precinct, culminated in a capital fundraising campaign which saw Sydney Dance Company contribute $8M to the associated costs. Like any thoughtful renovation, maximising space and improving facilities while maintaining the original character of the building was important. The four original studios have been refitted with new sprung floors, better insulation and heating and the former workshop, which ran east to west across the building, completely transformed into Studio 5, a new black-box theatre and studio space with a 79 seat retractable seating bank. With improved facilities for both the public and the dancers and PPY students, a conditioning studio for pilates and a refurbished gym, and a small studio in the Boardroom, the facilities in the Wharf Studios are now second to none. Works continued apace on the Wharf redevelopment during the COVID-19 pandemic and as the end of the year approached, the moving in date beckoned. The Hon. Don Harwin MP, NSW Minister for the Arts addressed the assembled media, government representatives and colleagues from resident Walsh Bay companies from the floor of Studio 2: Joan Barrie Studio (a gift of Catriona and Simon Mordant) on Monday 14 December, before enjoying a short performance from Company dancers and undertaking a guided tour of all of the arts tenancies. The Wharf re-development would not have been possible without the generosity of the Take A Step Campaign donors. Sydney Dance Company Board and senior staff celebrated over a dinner in the new workshop space with the leadership donors, whose exceptional commitment and generosity ensure a lasting legacy for the next generation of dancers of all ages. The Neilson, Wales, Clifford and Mordant families and the late Carla Zampatti AC have named the five studios. The Boardroom/Studio 6 will bear the name of former Chair Julian Knights AO and his wife Lizanne and Chair Brett Clegg has named the Studio 5 foyer space. With public classes opening in the first week of January 2021 and the staff and dancers settling into the new space, the Wharf is now an invigorating, enlivening space. Sydney Dance Company’s promise for the future, to perform at our peak, to inspire and educate and to share dance with everyone, is made easy to execute in an exceptional, purpose built environment. We are grateful to the NSW Government for their visionary support of the Walsh Bay precinct redevelopment. They have invested not just in Sydney Dance Company but in all of the co-located performing arts companies and the thousands of people who attend classes and performances. We also want to thank each and every one of our Capital Campaign donors for their belief in our vision for a future for Sydney Dance Company and an enduring legacy for the ongoing development of contemporary dance in Australia.