SDC's new triple bill 'ascending' soon!
Rafael Bonachela is celebrating his 15th aniversary as artistic director of Sydney Dance Company in 2023, and is approaching the year with his customary infectious enthusiasm. The company launched its season with the rallying cry “Feel the music. The movement. This moment. We dare you not to dance.”
First up is a triple bill called “Ascent”, co-commissioned by the Canberra Theatre Centre, followed by a season at the Sydney Opera House as part of its 50th-anniversary celebrations.
“Ascent” will feature Bonachela's latest creation: I Am-ness, which "calls for the convergence of the moving body and creative mind, charting a world in flux where simplicity dominates, and expectations are subverted".
This will be accompanied by a new work by renowned international choreographer Marina Mascarell: the first for the company by an international choreographer in six years. Mascarell has been appointed as the artistic director of Danish Dance Theatre and this is her last work as an independent choreographer before taking up that post in April. She has previously worked with Nederlands Dans Theater 1 and 2, GöteborgsOperans Danskompani, Biennale de la Danse of Lyon with Lyon Opera Ballet, Skanes Dansteater, Mercat de les Flors in Barcelona and Dance Forum Taipei.
Her creation for SDC is called The Shell, A Ghost, The Host & The Lyrebird and "takes the audience on a journey with bodies through the unknown as mutant creatures in an oneiric valley".
The triple bill will be rounded out with a return of Antony Hamilton’s Helpmann award-winning work Forever and Ever. Hamilton is artistic director of Melbourne's Chunky Move.
“After the challenges of the past few years, I am so pleased to again be commissioning an international artist whose works have garnered critical acclaim around the world, alongside showcasing the work of a brilliant Australian choreographer,” says Bonachela.
“Ascent” opens at Canberra Theatre Centre on March 9 – 11, then moves to the Sydney Opera House from March 15 to 26 before embarking on a national tour to 13 centres from May through to August. For more details go here.
