Dance Reflections Brings 13 Works To Sydney Festival

Sydney Festival will host the southern hemisphere debut of Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels in January 2027, bringing 13 choreographic works to theatres, galleries and public spaces across the city.

Running from 7–25 January, the program combines Australian premieres by leading international choreographers with a new work from Marrugeku, free performances and opportunities to learn directly from visiting artists. Its range extends from ballet and aerial movement to house dance, queer club culture and the work of postmodern pioneer Trisha Brown.

At the announcement, Sydney Festival Director Kris Nelson described the program as a “once-in-a-lifetime” opportunity for dance audiences.

“Dance Reflections has been a real gamechanger in the creation and dissemination of dance on this scale,” he said.

Founded in 2020 and supported by French jewellery maison Van Cleef & Arpels, the initiative supports new choreography, the presentation of existing works and dance education. Its festivals have previously been held in cities including London, New York, Hong Kong, Seoul and Shanghai.

A central venue for the Sydney program will be the renovated Cutaway at Barangaroo, where a purpose-built theatre will accommodate four productions. Among them is French choreographer Rachid Ouramdane’s Outsider, bringing together 20 dancers from Ballet du Grand Théâtre de Genève and four extreme sports athletes.

Performed amid a network of high wires and cables, with music by Julius Eastman, the work places the dancers and athletes in a shared environment of balance, risk and collective movement.

The Cutaway will also host TAO Dance Theater’s double bill 15 | 18, two works from choreographer Tao Ye’s Numerical Series; Greek choreographer Christos Papadopoulos’s My Fierce Ignorant Step; and CROSSOVER by French collective (LA)HORDE.

Performed by Ballet national de Marseille, CROSSOVER brings (LA)HORDE into dialogue with five guest choreographers, pairing and reworking elements of existing creations. The collective’s collaborations with Madonna have brought its work to audiences well beyond contemporary dance venues.

At Carriageworks, Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker and Radouan Mriziga will present Il Cimento dell’Armonia e dell’Inventione, a choreographic encounter with Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons that considers the changing relationship between humanity and the natural world.

French choreographer Leïla Ka, whose recent collaborations include Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter tour, brings Maldonne to the Seymour Centre. Five dancers and 40 dresses form a changing portrait of womanhood, with garments becoming partners, obstacles and expressions of resistance.

Portuguese choreographer Marco da Silva Ferreira’s Fcking Future* will be presented at Powerhouse Parramatta, drawing on club culture and queer expression to confront conformity and militarisation. The Sydney Opera House will host Ouramdane’s Contre-nature and South African choreographer Robyn Orlin’s We Wear Our Wheels With Pride..., inspired by the history of Durban’s Zulu rickshaw pullers.

Australia’s contribution is Marrugeku’s world premiere Ngurragabu, at Carriageworks from 20–23 January. Created by choreographer Dalisa Pigram and director Rachael Swain in dialogue with Yawuru and Bardi custodians, the work imagines a future of environmental damage and drowned Country. An ensemble of Indigenous and settler-diasporic performers explores survival and the possibility of living differently with one another and the earth.

For Serge Laurent, Van Cleef & Arpels’ Director of Dance and Culture Programs, connecting artists with audiences is central to the initiative.

“The duty of a curator is really to connect artists with audiences,” he said. “If you want people to be exposed to dance, you need to think about how to reach them.”

Two works will be presented free of charge on 9 and 10 January: Trisha Brown’s Roof Piece, performed across the architectural spaces of the Art Gallery of New South Wales, and Cassiel Gaube’s house dance work Soirée d’études at Carriageworks.

The performance program will be accompanied by 17 workshops, alongside talks, with sessions at Sydney Dance Company offering opportunities to encounter the visiting artists’ choreographic practices.

Nelson emphasised the breadth of the invitation.

“I’m really excited because we’re presenting a massive sampler of different kinds of dance, from the super classical to the acrobatic, to clubby and queer, personality-driven dance with big characters on stage, and works where you’re watching these incredible bodies do amazing geometry,” he said.

“This is your chance to test it out.”

Sydney Festival’s full 2027 program will be announced on Monday 19 October, with tickets on sale from Thursday 22 October. The festival has announced 10,000 A Reserve tickets at $49, with booking fees applying. Explore the Dance Reflections program for performance and participation details.