Sydney Festival dance highlights

 The Sydney Festival will take place from January 9 to 27 and includes a number of dance highlights.

Biladurang, billed as a “dark, sexy and intimate solo work”, is created and performed by Wiradjuri dancer and choreographer Joel Bray, and performed for an up-close, bathrobe-clad audience in a hotel room. Loosely echoing the story of the Biladurang – the platypus, this award-winning autobiographical dance-theatre work explores heritage, identity and yearning for home.

The other dance productions feature collaborations between outstanding dancers and musicians. In One Infinity, recorder virtuoso Genevieve Lacey, Chinese guqin master Wang Peng, director-choreographer Gideon Obarzanek and composer Max de Wardener come together with dancers from Beijing Dance Theatre, Dancenorth Australia and musicians from the Jun Tian Fang Ensemble.

For Dust, Dancenorth combines with Canada’s violinist Jessica Moss (best known for her work with the band Thee Silver Mt Zion). And for The Nutcracker and I renowned Romanian pianist Alexandra Dariescu brings to lifeTchaikovsky's story in an innovative, multi-media performance. Canadian/UK dancer Désirée Ballantyne performs in-sync with hand-drawn digital projections.

For a review of the Brisbane season of Biladurang and Dust, go here.

The Sydney Festival runs from January 9 to 27.

https://www.sydneyfestival.org.au/