Sydney dance company has announced its first European co-production, in partnership with the acclaimed Dresden Frankfurt Dance Company.
A new work by artistic director Rafael Bonachela, called Lux Tenebris, will be given its premiere in Sydney by Sydney Dance Company in February and its European premiere by the Dresden Frankfurt Dance Company (DFDC) in September.
The two companies will pool their resources to create the work, but the artistic team is entirely SDC collaborators, including composer Nick Wales and stage/lighting designer Benjamin Cisterne.
DFDC's artistic director, Jacopo Godani, has previously staged his work with Sydney Dance Company: his Raw Models was a hit with audiences. He took over the artistic directorship of the Frankfurt company late last year, stepping into the shoes of the acclaimed William Forsythe.
Bonachela hopes it will be the beginning of a long and productive relationship between the two companies. "SDC is an international touring company," he says, "so it is wonderful to have this extra opportunity to perform overseas and expose our artists to the world."
Australian audiences can see Lux Tenebris first: it opens at the Ros Packer Theatre in Sydney on February 29, 2016, and will tour nationally to 19 venues across six states and territories as part of Sydney Dance Company’s double-bill program CounterMove. It will share the bill with Cacti, an encore of Alexander Ekman's humorous work.
'Dance Australia' correspondent Emma Sandall caught up with Jacopo Godani at the company's headquarters in Germany. Look out for that interview in the April/May issue.
DATES:
19 – 21 May
Canberra Theatre Centre
25 May – 4 Jun
Southbank Theatre, Melbourne
REGIONAL TOURING*
NSW
17 – 18 June: Wollongong
22 June: Orange
25 June: Newcastle
29 June: Port Macquarie
20 August: Bathurst
24 August: Griffith
27 August: Dubbo
QLD
2 July: Rockhampton
6 July: Gladstone
9 – 10 July: Cairns
15 – 16 July: Gold Coast
NT
29 July: Darwin
WA
3 August: Geraldton
6 August: Mandurah
9 August: Albany
13 August: Bunbury
* Venues to be announced shortly.