SYDNEY DANCE COMPANY

Sydney Dance Company is Australia's premiere dance company and one of the country's most original and vibrant Arts organisations.

Performing nationally and internationally, Sydney Dance Company was the first Australian contemporary dance company to make its mark on the world of dance.  Since that time is has remained an active proponent of innovative Australian dance around the globe, having undertaken over 25 international tours, performing in over 100 cities in 20 countries.   The Company recently entered an exciting new phase in its history with the appointment of Barcelona born choreographer Rafael Bonachela to the position of Artistic Director and Resident Choreographer.


FESTIVAL FIRST NIGHT WORK
360 DEGREES

Sydney Dance Company will present a highly charged excerpt from Rafael Bonachela’s compelling dance work 360 DEGREES created for the Company in 2008. The chemistry between Bonachela’s combustible choreographic language and the dancers of Sydney Dance Company produces art where rigour, freedom, strength and precision are deftly combined.

Choreography and Direction RAFAEL BONACHELA
Production Design TONY ASSNESS
Video Projection ENGINE
Company Stage Manager DOMINIC CHANG

Music
How to Vibrate (Mike Patton remix) -  from the album Vein 2007
Composed by J.G. Thirlwell. Performed by Foetus.

Hemo the Cuckold-  from the album Damp
Composed by J.G. Thirlwell. Performed by Foetus.

Cast
BRADLEY CHATFIELD
CHYLIE COOPER
CONNOR DOWLING
ALEXA HECKMANN
ANNABEL KNIGHT
JOHANNE LEE
REED LUPLAU
CHEN WEN

RAFAEL BONACHELA
Choreographer and Director
360°

Rafael Bonachela, recently appointed to the role of Artistic Director at Sydney Dance Company, is the founder of Bonachela Dance Company in London and an artist in residence at the South Bank Centre, London.

Born in Barcelona, Spain, Rafael trained at the London Studio Centre. He danced with Rambert Dance Company for twelve years before being appointed Associate Choreographer (2003- 2005).  Rafael won the first ever Place Prize Award for Choreography in 2004 and both the Guglielmo Ebreo Prize and the Critics’ Prize at the Biennale Danza e Italia international competition in 2006.

In 2002, he was commissioned to choreograph Kylie Minogue's routine at the Brit Awards. His unique approach to choreography, combining contemporary dance within a more mainstream context, led to further work on Ms Minogue’s world tours. He has also worked with other music artists including Tina Turner, The Kills and Primal Scream.

Rafael recently collaborated with Nigel Coates and movie Director John Maybury for Nigel’s presentational at the 11th Venice Architecture Biennale. This multimedia installation explores the relationship between our own bodies and the "bodies" that constitute the architecture that surrounds us.

Recent and future commissions include work for Ballet Boyz, Candoco and Danza Contemporanea de Cuba.

Bonachela is widely recognised as one of the most exciting and talented voices working in European contemporary dance.  Founded on Bonachela’s interest in the physicality and emotional impulse of the body, his work brings together artists from diverse practices and influences to create dance that communicates in vivid and powerful terms about the human condition and human relationships.

Artistic Director, Rafael Bonachela, will premiere his newest work for Sydney Dance Company, we unfold, on March 31 at the Sydney Theatre in Walsh Bay.


FOR MORE INFORMATION, VISIT THE COMPANY'S WEBSITE HERE.

To buy tickets to Sydney Dance Company’s upcoming shows by Rafael Bonachela in Sydney click here.

For more information on Sydney Dance Company’s performances of Rafael Bonchela’s 360 Degrees in Brisbane, Adelaide, Melbourne & Christchurch and to buy tickets click here.