Sydney Dance Company’s 2026 season draws a throughline between reflection and evolution. Across two major Sydney seasons, a suite of independent programs, and an expanded national and international touring schedule, the Company continues to test the language of contemporary dance while honouring the creative ground on which it stands.
Artistic Director Rafael Bonachela describes the coming year as “a year of reflection, celebration, reinvention and empowerment.” His words feel apt for a program that intertwines memory and momentum. In June, Engine ignites the stage of the Sydney Opera House with three distinct choreographic visions: Bonachela’s The Journey Itself Is Home, inspired by the writings of seventeenth-century poet Matsuo Bashō and set to a score by Bryce Dessner; the Australian premiere of The Mass Ornament by Berlin-based choreographer Fran Diaz, a meditation on the tension between individuality and collectivity; and Melanie Lane’s Love Lock, a re-imagined folk dance of the future realised in collaboration with designer Akira Isogawa and composer Clark.
Later in the year, Current invites audiences into the Company’s Neilson Studio for an intimate celebration of forty years at Walsh Bay. The season brings together new works by Raghav Handa, Jenni Large and Azzam Mohamed with the long-awaited Australian premiere of Bonachela’s E2 7SD, a study in the shifting energies between two bodies. Each artist offers a distinct vision of movement as conversation — personal, cultural, and aesthetic — drawing the audience into close proximity with the creative pulse of Australian dance today.
The Company’s fifth INDance program in April reaffirms its role as a home for independent voices, featuring works by Christopher Gurusamy, Emma Harrison, Jenni Large and Oli Matheisen. Large, who first captivated audiences with S U C K E R, has also been announced as The Balnaves Foundation Artist in Residence for 2026, deepening her engagement with Sydney Dance Company through a year of creative exchange and collaboration.
Nationally, Sydney Dance Company will tour works by Bonachela, Diaz, Lane and Tra Mi Dinh across New South Wales, Western Australia and the Northern Territory before embarking on another major international season. The new partnership Orbit, developed with Australian Dance Theatre and Dancehouse, will further extend the reach of independent Australian choreography, offering audiences across three states the chance to experience works that have defined a decade of contemporary practice.
“As we mark forty years at Walsh Bay Arts Precinct, we honour the incredible artists who have shaped our story and those who will lead us into the future,” says Bonachela. The sentiment encapsulates a season that balances reverence with risk, returning dance to its essence: a live exchange of energy, imagination and possibility.
For full program details visit sydneydancecompany.com