Sydney Dance Company

About the company

Dance changes you. More than simply  witnessing something beautiful, or engaging with culture, to experience  dance is to be positively altered. From performances at the Joyce  Theatre in New York, to the Grand in Shanghai, the Stanislavsky in  Moscow and the Sydney Opera House at home, Sydney Dance Company has  proved that there are no passive observers in a contemporary dance  audience.

The reward of truly moving audiences, and the raw pride of sharing  Australian art with the world has driven our ensemble of 17 dancers, led  by Artistic Director Rafael Bonachela,  to become one of the world’s strongest forces in contemporary dance.  Alongside Bonachela’s original works, our programs have featured guest  choreographers like Jacopo Godani, Alexander Ekman, Gideon Obarzanek and Cheng Tsung-lung, as well as collaborations with Sydney Festival, Australian Chamber Orchestra, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, David Jones and composers Bryce Dessner, Nick Wales, 48nord and Ezio Bosso.

Sydney Dance Company has a broad community beyond the practice and  performance of our lead dancers. We believe in the universality of  dance, and with the largest public dance class program in Australia, we  help over 70,000 people a year connect with the grace, strength and  creativity that lives within all of us. Our nation-wide education program  offers a strategic curriculum targeting primary and secondary students  through to career focused study for pre-professional dancers and  university graduates.

Our Origins

Sydney Dance Company began as a  group founded in 1969 by dancer Suzanne Musitz. Soon known as The Dance  Company (NSW), from 1975-1976 the Company was directed by Dutch  choreographer Jaap Flier, before the appointment of Australian  choreographer Graeme Murphy in 1976. In 1979 Murphy and his partner  Janet Vernon instituted the defining name change to Sydney Dance Company  and proceeded to lead it for a remarkable 30 years. Murphy and his  collaborators created work that enthralled audiences in Australia and in  extensive international touring, including being the first western  contemporary dance company to perform in the People’s Republic of China.

Sydney Dance Company has been led since 2009 by Spanish-born Artistic Director Rafael Bonachela.  Over the past eight years the Company has cemented its reputation as a  creative powerhouse, with an acclaimed group of dancers presenting new  work by Bonachela  and other choreographers, designers, composers and musicians. The  Company has expanded its reach into the towns and cities it visits with  work for schools and local dancers.

Since 1986 the Company has been a resident of the purpose-built  studios at The Wharf in Sydney’s Walsh Bay, minutes from the city’s  famed Sydney Harbour Bridge and Sydney Opera House.

Source: Sydney Dance Company 

More information: www.sydneydancecompany.com