'Sui Generis' returns for one night only

Choreographer and artistic director Paulina Quinteros grew up with two accomplished classical musicians as parents, so she was immersed in music throughout her childhood. This has led to her desire as a choreographer to create work in collaboration with artists from other disciplines. If she could have her way, she would "fill the rehearsal studio with composers, musicians, designers, singers, acrobats, painters, writers, actors and of course dancers,” she says.

 For her latest project, she is collaborating with two of Australia’s finest musicians – composer Elena Kats-Chernin and Japanese virtuoso TAIKO percussionist Ryuji Hamada from TAIKOZ.

 The result is Sui Generis (meaning unique). Dancers from Quinteros’s Sydney ensemble Danza Del Arte will take the stage together with Kats-Chernin and Hamada playing their own original compositions and singers from the Sydney Philharmonia Choir. Japanese drums, flute and calligraphy will feature alongside new contemporary music, all brought to fluent visual life by the dancers.

 First performed as part of the Sydney Fringe this year, where it was nominated for the Sydney Fringe Award, the production is being presented for one night only at the Seymour Centre in Sydney on November 5.

Quinteros is an award-winning choreographer who has been commissioned by various organisations such diverse as the Australian Ballet, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, the Sydney Peace Prize, UNSW, NAISDA, WAAPA, VCA and the Queensland Ballet. She has collaborated with composer Ross Edwards and is currently collaborating with artist Wendy Sharpe and Kats-Chernin towards the creation of a new dance theatre work titled Domus (meaning Home).

She has been invited by Marilyn Jones OBE and the Australian Institute of Classical Dance's Artistic Director Kathleen Hamilton to create the AICD’s first contemporary syllabus.

For now, however, her sights are set on Sui Generis, which she promises is an “extraordinary collaboration of music and dance”.

For more info, go here.

Look out for our ticket giveaway to Sui Generis in our next e-news!