Ascent National Tour Program 2024 by SydneyDanceCompany

National Tour 2024

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momenta 28 May – 8 June Roslyn Packer Theatre, Sydney World premiere by Rafael Bonachela

Photo by: Justin Ridler 2

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Sydney Dance Company is based in Walsh Bay Sydney. Our studios are situated on the lands and over the waters of the Gadigal. Sydney Dance Company acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of these lands and the lands on which we will be touring and performing throughout our National Tour, paying our respects to their Elders and Cultural Custodians and all First Nations People.

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Welcome Welcome to our National Tour of Ascent. 2023 was an exciting and vibrant year for Sydney Dance Company. Following its premiere season at the Canberra Theatre Centre, our co-commissioning partners for this program, we performed Ascent at Sydney Opera House as part of their 50th anniversary celebrations. An international tour saw us performing in Italy, Spain, Germany and the Netherlands. We toured from Hobart to Darwin across Australia before returning back to Sydney for UpClose: Somos, welcoming sell-out audiences in our very own Neilson Studio at the Walsh Bay Arts Precinct. We also celebrated two milestone anniversaries - our New Breed program for emerging Australian choreographers celebrated 10 years, only made possible with the enduring support of The Balnaves Foundation and co-presentation partners, Carriageworks; and our Pre-professional year training program also had its 10th anniversary, finishing the year with PPY23 Revealed. I am excited for what 2024 has in store for Sydney Dance Company, starting with this national tour of Ascent, just before we embark on a seven-week international tour across Europe, the United Kingdom and the United States, including performances of Ascent in London and Barcelona. On our return, a new Sydney season will feature momenta, a new full-length work by Artistic Director Rafael Bonachela, followed by a national tour that will take us to four states and two territories across Australia. The second half of the year will bring Twofold, featuring the return of the beloved Impermanence, with music co-commissioned by the Australian String Quartet, and a new work by Australian/Javanese choreographer, Melanie Lane. Featuring the return of the HelpmannAward winning Forever & Ever by Antony Hamilton, I Am-ness by Artistic Director Rafael Bonachela and The Shell, A Ghost, The Host & The Lyrebird by Marina Photo: 4 Pedro Greig

Mascarell, Ascent is an arresting portrait of contemporary dance and its potential to move, excite and activate audiences. This electrifying season is only possible due to the leadership and dedication of the Sydney Dance Company Board and team, together with the generous support of our government, corporate and philanthropic partners. I would also particularly like to acknowledge the ongoing support of the Australian Government delivered through Creative Australia and the NSW Government through Create NSW. With the unwavering commitment of our partners, supporters and those who have invested in our vision, we continue to be able to share the joy and inspiration of bringing the very best of contemporary dance to local, national and international audiences. Please join us in celebrating this season created and performed by Australia’s most formidable artists in collaboration with our international friends. Lou Oppenheim Executive Director sydneydancecompany.com

Rafael Bonachela Welcome Note Ascent Sydney What a joy it is to be back on the road and connecting with audiences around Australia! I am so thrilled to be sharing this blockbuster triple bill with you. Ascent features my creation, I Am-ness, and works by two exceptionally talented choreographers and dear friends – Marina Mascarell and Antony Hamilton. I Am-ness explores the convergence of the moving body and creative mind. I wanted to revisit the powerful and emotive work of Latvian composer Pēteris Vasks, who previously featured in my full-length work ab[intra]. His music creates a tender backdrop as our four dancers canvass the very nature of existence across the stage. Artistic Director of Danish Dance Theatre, Marina Mascarell is a renowned international artist and the first international choreographer we have had the opportunity to commission in six years. The Shell, A Ghost, The Host & The Lyrebird is her first work ever in Australia and features a host of incredible Australian collaborators, including composer Nick Wales, set and costume designers Lauren Brincat and Leah Giblin, and lighting designer Damien Cooper. It was such a joy welcoming Marina to the Studio in Sydney and seeing this sensational collaboration come to life. Originally premiering with Sydney Dance Company in 2018 and recipient of the Helpmann Award for Best Choreography in 2019, I am thrilled to bring Antony Hamilton’s Forever & Ever back to the stage to round off this program. Set to a sonically stimulating score by The Presets’ Julian Hamilton, this boundary-pushing work fuses dance, techno, high fashion and vivid lighting to hypnotic effect.

Continuing to share inspiring contemporary dance experiences with audiences near and far is only possible with the ongoing commitment of our Board, partners and supporters. I sincerely thank you for allowing us to keep doing what we love every single day. I particularly thank the Carla Zampatti Foundation, the Neilson Foundation and the 2023 Carla Zampatti Commissioning Fund donors for their generous support of this season. I would also sincerely like to thank the Naomi Milgrom Foundation as Artistic Director’s Commissioning Partner of Forever & Ever in 2018 – we are delighted to see the journey of this work continue across Australia in 2024. I am in awe of the dedication and passion that every artist has brought to the creation of this triple bill season. I can’t wait for you to experience the powerhouse that is Ascent on stage. Rafael Bonachela Artistic Director

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I Am-ness Rafael Bonachela 15 mins Pause Please remain seated The Shell, A Ghost, The Host & The Lyrebird Marina Mascarell 26 mins Interval Forever & Ever Antony Hamilton 36 mins

Photo: 6 Pedro Greig

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I Am-ness Choreography

Rafael Bonachela

Music

“Lonely Angel”, meditation for violin and strings by Pēteris Vasks

Lighting Design

Damien Cooper

Costume Design

Rafael Bonachela

Costume Design Realisation

Aleisa Jelbart

These performances of “Lonely Angel”, meditation for violin and strings by Pēteris Vasks are given by permission of Hal Leonard Australia Pty Ltd, exclusive agents for Schott Music Ltd of Mainz. With visionary support from the Carla Zampatti Foundation. Together with the generosity of the Neilson Foundation and 2023 Carla Zampatti Commissioning Fund supporters.

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About Rafael Bonachela Rafael Bonachela is a Choreographer, Artistic Director and Curator whose career has seen him successfully span high art and popular culture, working across a range of art forms, including contemporary dance, art installations, pop concerts, musicals, film, commercials and fashion. Bonachela was born in La Garriga near Barcelona (1972) where he began his early dance training before moving to London to join the legendary Rambert Dance Company where he danced from 1992 to 2004. In 2008, Rafael premiered his first full-length production 360° for Sydney Dance Company. Less than six months later he was appointed Artistic Director, making international headlines and heralding a new era in Australian contemporary dance. His vision for the Company embraces a guiding principle that sees commissioned dance works by Australian and International choreographers alongside his own critically acclaimed creations.

In 2022, Cartier announced Rafael as a new Friend of the Maison. From his internationally recognised talent as both a dancer and choreographer, to his commitments supporting a new generation of emerging artists and choreographers, Bonachela embodies values cherished by Cartier: strength of character, virtuosity and the ability to find beauty wherever it may lie. Bonachela’s work is strong, sober and sharp. The exploration of pure movement is where he finds his unmistakable style. The result is an incandescent dance that springs from the power of movement, in which energy and muscle strength combine with a great emotional sensitivity. You can read more of Rafael’s biography here.

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A note from Artistic Director Rafael Bonachela Unfolding in front of you are four humans alive in their physicality and consciousness, negotiating a mosaic of impulses. As a concept, I Am-ness allows us to express this state of being in one breath. Created in concert with you, their audience, is a momentary constellation of feelings, thoughts and sensations. This work is a call to action for those that embody it. A call to let go.

I Am-ness hinges on the four dancers’ exquisite level of awareness. Naiara, Piran, Madeline and Riley breathed a burning energy into this work which I am endlessly thankful for. The movement onstage is a direct translation from the atmosphere in the Studio, where I encouraged quick, instinctive decision making. I would play the music without pausing for our thoughts to catch up, never wanting to break the flow. The result is something you can’t fake. It’s honest, alive and instinctive.

I chose to revisit the powerful work of Latvian composer Pēteris Vasks for this work. In Vasks’ Lonely Angel the strings yearn softly as the dancers cross fault lines with a euphoric tenderness. Unravelling amidst smoke, they come as they are. Sudden movements flicker as echoes of thought, building and evolving before touching for brief moments of stillness. Rapid sequences appear and reappear before returning to familiar places that are somehow changed.

Four orbiting bodies tumbling, pushing, holding. I Am-ness is as external as it is internal, as perceived as it is felt. Each dancer revels in the gaze and touch of the collective. Breathing as one. Beating as one.

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Damien Cooper Lighting Designer Biography Damien Cooper works internationally across theatre, opera and dance. Damien’s dance credits for Sydney Dance Company include; Resound, ab [intra], Impermanence, Cinco, Ocho, Grand, Air and Other Invisible Forces and Orb. Other dance credits include; State (Western Australian Ballet), Of Earth and Sky (Bangarra), The Narrative of Nothing, Firebird and Swan Lake (Australian Ballet), Giselle (Universal Ballet), Birdbrain, Supernature, Habitus and Be Your Self (Australian Dance Theatre), The Frock (Ten Days on the Island Festival), Affinity (Tas Dance), Mortal Engine (Chunky Move) and Grey Rhino (Performing Lines). Other Theatre credits include Counting & Cracking (Edinburgh International Festival/ Belvoir), Mark Colvin’s Kidney, The Great Fire, Radiance, The Glass Menagerie, Coranderrk, Miss Julie, Stories I Want to Tell You in Person, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Peter Pan, Private Lives, Conversation Piece, Strange Interlude, Summer of the Seventeenth Doll, Neighbourhood Watch, The Seagull, Gethsemane, Keating!, Toy Symphony, Peribanez, Stuff Happens, The Chairs, The Spook, In Our Name, The Underpants and The Ham Funeral (Belvoir); Disgraced, Orlando, Arcadia, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Golden Age, Suddenly Last Summer, The Women of Troy, The Lost Echo, Riflemind and Tot Mom (Sydney Theatre Company); Macbeth and The Tempest (Bell Shakespeare); The Ring Cycle, Der Ring des Nibelungen, Aida and Cosi Fan Tutte (Opera Australia); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Houston Grand Opera, Canadian Opera, Lyric Opera Chicago); and The Magic Flute (Lyric Opera Chicago).

Note The exquisite Vasks score “Lonely Angel” elevates you as a human, pushes you on an emotional journey. The dancers and the choreography of Rafael are like liquid, ever changing, ever flowing... The lighting and atmospherics will take you out of this world. Dreams are made like this. Soft, gentle, ecstatic and wonderful.

For lighting design, Damien has won three Sydney Theatre Awards, four Green Room Awards, and two Australian Production Design Guild Awards.

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Photo: Pedro Greig

The Shell, A Ghost, The Host & The Lyrebird Direction

Marina Mascarell

Choreography

Marina Mascarell, in collaboration with Sophie Jones, Jesse Scales, Lucy Angel, Coco Wood, Liam Green, Dean Elliott, Emily Seymour, Jacopo Grabar and Luke Hayward.

Music

Composed by Nick Wales

Set & Costume Designers

Lauren Brincat and Leah Giblin

Lighting Design

Damien Cooper

With visionary support from the Carla Zampatti Foundation. Together with the generosity of the Neilson Foundation and 2023 Carla Zampatti Commissioning Fund supporters.

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About Marina Mascarell Marina Mascarell (Oliva, Spain,1980) was appointed Artistic Director of Danish Dance Theatre in 2023. Prior to this, Marina was Resident Choreographer at Korzo Theatre in The Hague between 2011-21, Associated Artist at Mercat de les Flors in Barcelona since 2018 and founder and artistic director of MEI(s) Foundation. In her art, the reflections, inquiries and concepts turn into a poetic fight, where thought transforms into corporeality and movement. Marina is interested in a rebellious body characterized by questioning ‘normativity’. In the dancing body as a form of resistance, deeply rooted in political and social action. Besides her independent work, Marina has also been commissioned to create pieces by different institutions such as Nederlands Dans Theater 1 and 2, GöteborgsOperans Danskompani, Biennale de la Danse of Lyon with Lyon Opera Ballet, Skanes Dansteater, Dance Forum Taipei among others. She also collaborates as well with fellow artists in the fields of visual arts, film, music and theatre. Her work has been seen in The Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, Spain, Italy, France, Greece, Taiwan, China, Korea, Brazil, Argentina and Chile. She has been recognised and awarded with several prizes throughout her career such as BNG Excellent Dans Award 2015. She has recently published a book embodying thought about her methodology and creative process with Coma Negra publishing company, Mercat de les Flors and Institut del Teatre, Barcelona.

Alongside her work as a choreographer, Marina has developed a practice which is strongly linked to her choreographic process. A method focused in movement research and the increase of body awareness. She teaches workshops at different festivals and universities. Marina has been a former member of Nederlands Dans Theater 1 and 2 and Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet in New York City. Marina’s world premiere The Shell, A Ghost, The Host & The Lyrebird for Sydney Dance Company’s season of Ascent is her first commissioned work in Australia.

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A note from choreographer Marina Mascarell Fiction is our new reality, and we devour it frenetically. Old structures are rupturing and the void is being filled by billions of personal stories. This piece poses many questions: the body’s meaning and its capacity to transform; the relationship with technology, and the connection with nature. The Shell, A Ghost, The Host & The Lyrebird is the journey of some bodies towards the unknown, as mutant creatures in an oneiric valley. A place where the dancers abandon binarisms and old forms to embrace a

transition process from what we were and are to what we will be. Bodies are penetrated by a constantly transforming place, decentralising the human, shifting our focus to still have a chance to survive. Hybridising bodies, containers of information, like shells, adapting to life in continuous transition; as lyrebirds, learning from the natural and the artificial world to survive; as hosts of a finite world, in an attempt to decode the old and understand where those ghosts will go or if we will succumb as well.

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Nick Wales Composer Biography Nick Wales’ visceral and immersive music is a hybrid between classical forms, electronic and popular music. Nick has collaborated on ten works with Sydney Dance Company and The Shell, A Ghost, The Host & The Lyrebird is his second collaboration with Marina Mascarell. Nick’s recent commissions include the Netflix feature film score True Spirit directed by Sarah Spillane, Le Diable bat sa femme et marie sa fille with Marina Mascarell for Ballet de l’Opéra de Lyon, cathedral for Bundanon Trust, Zampatti for MAAS and collaborations with visual artists Lauren Brincat, Mel O’Callaghan and Hayden Fowler. Nick has worked with choreographer Shaun Parker on a number of works including the Helpmann nominated score for AM I, Happy as Larry and the outdoor works Spill and Trolleys. Nick continues to compose and collaborate with his wide and varied group of collaborators including Bree van Reyk, Rrawun Maymuru, Veronique Serret, Stereogamous, Sophie Hutchings and Sarah Blasko. While Wales’ contemporary dance scores are both challenging and abstract, his pop sensibilities are undeniable. Traversing all genres as a founding member of ARIA nominated classical-fusion band CODA, he has also collaborated with Sarah Blasko for a number of years, the pair co-composing Sydney Dance Company’s score Emergence for Rafael Bonachela. Emergence was released as a soundtrack in 2015. Note The music for The Shell, A Ghost, The Host & The Lyrebird has been influenced by a number of factors; traditional instruments (pianos, strings), the natural world (mostly Australian with some New Zealand guests) and the digitisation and rupture of these elements. As a team of collaborators, we have been interested in a potential evolution, from the present reality towards a cyber reality. Should this new reality be positive? Could it be? Could the duality between the natural world and the digital world coexist 16

in harmony? Is there a positivity and hope in this potential evolutionary path? The score is programmatic and helps to illustrate our ideas though its journey from more traditional sounds, the natural environment and finally a cathartic deconstruction towards a beautiful and hopeful valley resonating a post renaissance, natural and cyber reality. I have been interested in a performance practice where the musicians and I play as if we are a part of various ecosystems. We have been mimicking the patterns and sounds of both digital and natural environments, like a Lyrebird. I have made the score with some of my longtime collaborators, Bree van Reyk, Veronique Serret and Jason Noble, and I thank them for their generosity in helping me to realise the music. Thanks also to my sound engineering team, the SIF 309 orchestra team, the Bundanon Trust and at Ukaria Cultural Centre where elements of the score were developed.

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Written and Produced by

Nick Wales

Percussion

Bree ven Reyk

Clarinets

Jason Noble

Violin

Veronique Serret

Baroque Harp

Victor Valdez

String Orchestra

Bulgarian Symphony - SIF 309

Conductor

Deyan Pavlov

Orchestral Producer

Vladimir Dimitrov

Pianos, Viola, Percussion, Nick Wales Electronics Recorded at

Electric Ave Sydney, Ukaria Cultural Centre, Bundanon Trust, Doli Media Studio Sofia Bulgaria.

Mixed by

Bob Scott at Dodgy Sound

Engineered by

Phil Punch, Jem Hoppe, Bob Scott and Nick Wales

The score incorporates samples from: Jess Green - Electric Guitar, Alyx Dennison - voice, Bob Scott - live sound processing. Freesound samples: promete, digifishmusic, cmusounddesign, dobroide, tapepusher, dobroide, joao_janz, scooter86, pyzaist, benboncan, alienistcog, wim

Damien Cooper Lighting Designer Note It’s a thrill to have a set design that dancers can manipulate. It becomes an extension of their bodies, another choreographic element. Lighting an ever changing set

design is quite a challenge. Will that fabric be in that position when this light brushes across it ever again? This presents challenges and also great discovery. Enjoy.

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Photo: Pedro Greig

Lauren Brincat & Leah Giblin Set & Costume Designers Biographies

Lauren Brincat

Leah Giblin

Lauren Brincat is an artist who works across diverse media from video and performance to sculpture and installation. Interested in sound sculptures and performance instruments, her work explores non-verbal modes of expression through narrative or ideas. By distancing us from a logical, direct, language-based understanding, her work opens doors to multiple perspectives and interpretations.

Leah Giblin is a textile artist and costume designer working on Gadigal country. Leah completed a costume degree at the National Institute of Dramatic Arts in 2009 and has worked in the film and television industry on films such as The Great Gatsby, The Wolverine, Mad Max and The Chronicles of Narnia.

Her recent work includes sculptural forms that can be activated by participants. In 2022, Lauren showcased Tutti Presto fff at the Sydney Opera House for Vivid Sydney, collaborating with Leah Giblin and Alyx Dennison, as well as a solo exhibition Women with Fringes etc. at Anna Schwartz Gallery. In 2021, Lauren was included in the TarraWarra Biennial: Slow Moving Waters and in 2020 worked with the Kaldor Public Art Project 36: do it (Australia). In 2016, Lauren presented Salt Lines: Play It As It Sounds, Performance Instruments, a site-specific installation at Carriageworks as part of the Biennale of Sydney. Lauren’s works are represented in major collections, including the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney; Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Sydney; Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth; Chartwell Collection, Auckland. Lauren has been awarded the AGNSW Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris Studio in 2023.

Leah has collaborated on textile and costume projects with visual artists; Rochelle Haley, Mikala Dwyer, Koji Ryui, Lauren Brincat, Natalya Hughes, Agatha Gothe-Snape, Justene Williams, Techa Noble, Diana Baker-Smith and Kate Blackmore. In 2016, Leah worked with long-time collaborator Lauren Brincat to create Salt Lines: Play It As It Sounds, Performance Instruments (2016), a site-specific installation at Carriageworks as part of the Biennale of Sydney. Since then, Leah and Lauren have continued to create large scale textile artworks together including Other Tempo for Carriageworks and Performance Space in 2019 and Tutti Presto fff for Sydney Opera House and Vivid in 2022.

Lauren Brincat is represented by Anna Schwartz Gallery.

With a focus on sustainability and reducing textile waste, Leah has taught workshops on mending, natural dyeing, and upcycling at her studio in Rockdale as well as for The Australian Museum, The Opera House for the All About Women series and Cornersmith Cooking School. Her sustainable clothing label Day Keeper is designed and made in Sydney.

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Note Hybridise the masculine and feminine, person and animal, biology and technology. The set and costumes work simultaneously to replicate, mimic, produce, and reproduce. Drawing with silk instruments, these mossy landscapes capture atmosphere, becoming extensions of the costumes, lichens, fungus, gills, and spinous structures forming complete sequences.

The sound this set exudes jolts us from our slumber. Strong colour adds strength, instruction and discordant notes. The rope threads act as mycorrhizal networks weaving and shifting between chaos and deconstructed nature. They form a breathing ever-changing habitat.

Functioning garments perform as second skins, growths or protective shields. These augmentations encourage us to challenge, subvert and remind us of what’s needed to be human, alive. They compel us to consider alternative views, the moving pleats have continuous contours, changing the topography.

Photo: Pedro Greig

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Photo: Pedro Greig

Photo: 22 Pedro Greig

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Photo: Pedro Greig

Forever & Ever Choreography

Antony Hamilton

Music

Julian Hamilton

Costume Design

Paula Levis

Lighting Design

Ben Cisterne

Originally commissioned in 2018 with visionary support from the Naomi Milgrom Foundation as Artistic Director’s Commissioning Partner.

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About Antony Hamilton Antony Hamilton is Artistic Director and co-CEO of Chunky Move. His work is known for its seamless melding of choreography, sound and visual design, resulting in complete worlds in performance. Antony has been the recipient of major fellowships from Bangarra Dance Theatre (the Russell Page Fellowship), the Tanja Liedtke Foundation, the Australia Council for the Arts and the Sidney Myer Foundation. In 2013, he was Resident Director of Lucy Guerin Inc and in 2014 was guest dance curator at The National Gallery of Victoria. He was also the inaugural International Resident Artist at Dancemakers Toronto from 2016 to 2018. Antony has received four Helpmann Award nominations, winning for Black Project 1 & 2 and Forever and Ever (Sydney Dance Company). He has won numerous Green Room Awards and has also received a New York Performing Arts Award ‘Bessie’ for Outstanding Production for MEETING. In his time as Artistic Director at Chunky Move, Antony has premiered Token Armies (2019), Universal Estate (2019), Nocturnal (2020), Yung Lung (2022) and Rewards for the Tribe (2022). He has also championed a range of sector support programs, including the Victorian Regional Artist Residency, commissioning program Activators and the Choreographer in Residence initiative.

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A note from choreographer Antony Hamilton A number of ideas emerged through the creation of this piece in 2018, but the driving dramaturgy became the dancers’ duplication and change over time, expressed in Paula Levis’ costume concept of the babushka doll. The dancers reveal ever new looks under perpetually discarded layers as the piece drives on. I enjoyed making a work that pays homage to the heady world of pop culture, fashion and music, and its rapid pace of change expressed in the simple action of disrobing throughout the dance. Choreographic phrases were developed with direct relationship to Julian Hamilton’s repeating rhythmic musical bars, both keeping to time and then skipping around the perpetual beat. The music has served as the steady, driving foundation on which the choreography rides - minimal and emphatic.

The choreography in Forever & Ever organises the body into curious formations and pushes the dancers’ abilities with technically challenging material. This kind of technical approach to developing choreography never ceases to fascinate me. It was a pleasure to create this piece with my collaborators Julian, Paula and Benjamin and the outstanding and dedicated ensemble of dance artists back in 2018. The process of re-staging this work for Ascent has been no less rewarding and the dedication and commitment in the Studio of the new ensemble has allowed this work to live and breathe once more.

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Julian Hamilton Composer Biography Sydney-based Julian Hamilton studied piano from a young age and trained at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music where he met collaborator Kim Moyes. Together they performed in the instrumental band Prop, and in 2003 formed the duo The Presets. In 2008, he won the coveted APRA Song of the Year award for Silverchair’s Straight Lines, which he co-wrote with Daniel Johns. Also that year, The Presets released the chart-topping album Apocalypso, selling over 250,000 copies in Australia and winning five ARIA awards, including Album of the Year. In 2010, Julian shared the APRA Songwriters of the Year award with Kim Moyes. The Presets won Best Live Act at the In The Mix Awards in 2012 and released their critically acclaimed third album Pacifica. In 2013, The Presets collaborated with Chunky Move on Keep Everything, choreographed by Julian’s brother, Antony Hamilton. In 2014, The Presets toured nationally with the Australian Chamber Orchestra performing their collaboration Timeline. Julian and Antony continued their artistic relationship and created Ruth – a commission for Campbelltown Arts Centre in 2015. Hamilton has collaborated as a songwriter, composer, producer and featured artist with musicians including Silverchair, The Sleepy Jackson, Dillon Francis, Cut Copy, Kris Menace, Gin Wigmore, Daniel Johns, Bertie Blackman, Adrian Lux, Flight Facilities, KLP and Flume. Note When Forever & Ever was originally created in 2018, I was thrilled that Antony asked me to collaborate on the music. I always enjoy working with my brother. We have a unique and often strange, shared creative universe that we can dive into when working together

on projects like this — something we return to again and again, ever since we were kids making stop-motion movies with our GI Joe figures in the backyard! Composing these longer form works is a refreshing change from the pop music world I normally inhabit. Instead of trying to say everything in the space of a three-minute radio song, I am instead able to explore just how much emotion and meaning I can convey by saying very little at all. Beats can build up over a very long period. Synths can subtly shift and morph almost imperceptibly. Antony encourages me in this process, often coming back with a suggestion to ‘do less… less parts… make it more repetitive and less complex!’ I am more than happy to oblige. It’s a thrill to see this work take to the stage once again as part of Ascent.

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Paula Levis Costume Designer Biography Paula Levis is a Melbourne based costume designer. She has worked extensively in Australia’s contemporary dance scene for twenty years, designing for Chunky Move Artistic Director Antony Hamilton on his works Token Armies, Forever and Ever, Meeting, Sentinal, Black Project 2 & 3, NYX, Keep Everything, Drift, RGB, Blazeblue Oneline and I Like This. Paula has also designed costumes for Stephanie Lake Company (Manifesto, Skeleton Tree, Replica), Gideon Obarzanek (Two Faced Bastard, Mortal Engine, GLOW, Singularity, I Want to Dance Better at Parties), Lucy Guerin (Human Interest Story, Corridor, Structure & Sadness, Aether) and Melanie Lane. She has designed for dance companies Lyon Opera Ballet, Skånes Dansteater, Sydney Dance Company, Australian Dance Theatre, KAGE, Danceworks, Dancehouse, TasDance and DanceNorth. Paula has also designed for Melbourne Theatre Company, Red Stitch Actor’s Theatre, Victorian Opera and La Mama and has worked as costume designer/ stylist for the Black Arm Band and musician Genevieve Lacey. She was costume illustrator for the late Peter Corrigan over seventeen years. Note The title Forever & Ever provided the catalyst for the costume concept of this work. In search of the visual manifestation of ‘infinity’, I discovered motifs and ideas that in turn, helped to lay a choreographic framework for the piece to evolve within. Most notably, the idea of a Babushka doll that can be opened to repeatedly reveal smaller and smaller versions of a character - however in this incarnation, one character would ‘open’ to reveal a double of another character

which would then double again and again until there are sixteen dancers dressed similarly on stage. Symbols of infinity and patterns that allude to the idea of perpetuity can be found throughout the costumes of Forever & Ever. Colours are simple and bold and stylistic choices aim to reflect the uncompromising and energetic nature of the musical score. We are left with notions of a culture that is both vital yet throwaway, being driven forever onwards with youthful exuberance.

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Photo: Pedro Greig

Benjamin Cisterne Lighting Designer Biography Benjamin’s reputation is for finesse and a gutsy approach to design, based in light. Benjamin is known for creating bold designs that are integral to a project. He works collaboratively on all projects and has been involved in all forms of museum, exhibition and performing arts projects professionally for 15 years. Benjamin is passionate about the capability of light in spatial design, performance and its role in art. Benjamin has extensive experience working both nationally and internationally with diverse teams and projects. He splits his time between exhibition / museum specification and performing arts design where he is especially well-known for his work in dance. Benjamin’s lighting design for Sydney Dance Company’s 2 One Another was nominated for a 2012 Green Room Award. His other work for Sydney Dance Company includes Project Rameau, Contemporary Women, Emergence, Les Illuminations, 2 in D Minor, L’Chaim!, Scattered Rhymes, Parenthesis and Frame of Mind. Note The design of Forever & Ever in 2018 represented the next big step in many years of collaboration between Antony and myself. We drew from years of visual conversations, becoming very influenced by simple designs of early computer graphics. We worked predominantly with light and design, the space to take light and be defined by light. Over the years we have developed a common aesthetic and an obsession with timing. This manifested in an inherently connected work where, along with the reference imagery and movement, the music defines every light sequence and change.

When Forever & Ever was originally created in 2018, it presented an opportunity for Antony and I to take some of the trickiest things we have developed with timing and colour transitions and scale them up to Sydney Dance Company size. We have used this to explore the contrasts of high and low tech ideas in light and how those can define space both through size and scale. It is a work of contrasts and big changes following the rhythmic pulse of Julian’s music.

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Photo: Pedro Greig

Dancers Lucy Angel Born and raised in Wollongong, NSW, Lucy began her training at Joanne Grace School of Dance at age eight before completing her Certificate IV in dance at the Royal Academy of Dance at age 15. Lucy joined The Sarasota Ballet in Florida, USA as a trainee for their 20182019 season. At the end of 2019, she performed in The International Divertissement Ballet Gala with Projection Dance, as well as being a finalist in The Brisbane International Contemporary Dance Prix. Lucy joined Sydney Dance Company’s Pre-Professional Year in 2021 where she performed works by James Bachelor, Cloe Fournier, Stephanie Lake and Rafael Bonachela. Lucy commenced her traineeship with Sydney Dance Company at the end of 2022, premiering with the Company in Rafael Bonachela’s ab [intra] at DanceX.

Timmy Blankenship Originally from the United States, Timmy completed his early training in contemporary performance and choreography at Artistic Fusion in Thornton, Colorado and Dance Town in Miami, Florida, performing works by Loni Landon, Dana Foglia, & Emma Portner. He continued his training at the prestigious University of Southern California’s Glorya Kaufman School of Dance on scholarship, graduating with a BFA in 2023. There he performed works by William Forsythe, Jiří Kylián, Merce Cunningham & Yin Yue. Alongside performing, he premiered his choreography at Dance Town Miami’s annual contemporary gala of 2021, and internationally debuted Intergenerational Traffic at the Trinity Laban School of Dance in London of February 2023 as a collaboration with composer Tom Bradbury and dancer Xavier Williams. In August of 2023 he performed in the world premiere of Wanderers by Dimo Milev at the Nederland’s Dans Theatre Summer Intensive. Soon after Timmy moved to Sydney for his professional dance debut with Sydney Dance Company, performing in the tenth anniversary season of New Breed. Anika Boet Raised in Christchurch, New Zealand, Anika is of South African and Dutch descent. Moving to Sydney in 2020, Anika completed two years of fulltime training at Brent Street School of Performing arts, receiving her Diploma of Dance (focusing on Contemporary) with Honours. In her time at Brent Street, she had the pleasure of training with and performing works by Jessica Hesketh, Billy Keohavong, Georgette Sofatzis, Holly Doyle, Cass Mortimer Eipper, Craig Barry and Talia Fowler. Shortly after, Anika made her professional debut in Sydney Festival in January 2022 performing Grey Rhino, choreographed by Charmene Yap and Cass Mortimer Eipper. In that same year, she performed Against All Logic choreographed by Brigitta Oldereid, in Sydney Fringe Festival. In 2023, she undertook the Gallim Winter Intensive in New York, and then made the move to Naarm (Melbourne). Here, Anika completed a post-graduate course at Transit Dance, performing works by Chimene Steele Prior, Prue Lang, and Paul Malek. Anika joined Sydney Dance Company in October 2023.

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Dancers Naiara de Matos Naiara de Matos was born in Salvador, Brazil. In 2007, she began full-time training with the Bolshoi Ballet School in Joinville (Brazil). Following her graduation in 2011, Naiara began working in the Young Company of Bolshoi Ballet Brazil until she was offered a position with the Salzburg Landestheater in 2013. Throughout her career, Naiara has joined companies such as Leipzig Ballet (as a soloist), Konzert Theater Bern, Augsburg Ballet and Dance Company St Gallen. She has performed a variety of classical and modern repertoire including a number of soloist and principal roles, both in Europe and further abroad. Naiara has worked with internationally renowned choreographers such as Ohad Naharin, Johan Inger, Uwe Scholz, Nadav Zelner, Martin Zimmermann, Dimo Milev, Alba Castillo, Giovanni Insaudo, Mauro Astolfi, Francesca Frassinelli and more. Naiara joined Sydney Dance Company in 2023. Dean Elliott Dean began his dance training in Auckland, New Zealand at age 17. In 2018, he graduated from Ev and Bow Full-time Dance Training Centre in Sydney. During his time there, he worked with many Australian dance professionals and performed in works by choreographers Larissa McGowan, Anton, Robbie Curtis and Adam Blanch. In 2018, Dean appeared as a special guest artist in the Sydney City Youth Ballet’s Australian Tour of Together Live, performing in Lucas Jervies’ PowerHouse. Dean played the role of Young Brett Whitely in Theatre of Image’s Brett and Wendy… A Love Story Bound by Art directed by Kim Carpenter and choreographed by Lucas Jervies. Dean joined Sydney Dance Company in 2019.

Riley Fitzgerald Riley trained with the Anita Coutts School of Dance in regional Victoria before moving to Melbourne to attend the Victorian College of the Arts Secondary School, making his professional debut in The White Prince by Stephen Agisilaou. Riley then completed his Level 6 Diploma of Dance Performance at the New Zealand School of Dance in Wellington where he trained under James O’Hara and Tor Columbus. In 2019, Riley joined Sydney Dance Company, performing nationally and internationally in works such as ab [intra], Lux Tenebris, Impermanence and Six Breaths. Riley then moved to France, where he joined Ballet National de Marseille performing works by La Horde, Tania Carvalho, Oona Doherty, Lasseindra Ninja and Alexandre Roccoli and touring extensively throughout France and Europe. Riley makes his return to Sydney Dance Company in 2023.

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Dancers Tayla Gartner Originally from Geelong, Tayla began her dance training at Infinite Dance Studios at a young age. Tayla commenced full-time training at Patrick Studios Australia Academy program in 2018 before undertaking the Sydney Dance Company’s Pre-Professional Year in 2022, where she performed works by choreographers including Melanie Lane, Stephanie Lake, Jenni Large, Tobiah Booth-Remmers and Rafael Bonachela. In 2022, Tayla worked with and performed repertoire of Ohad Naharin and was a finalist in the Brisbane International Contemporary Dance Prix. Tayla has been involved in numerous movement and fashion campaigns for brands such as Last Layer, Indosole, JOSLIN and Carla Zampatti and has featured in adverts for Junior Eurovision, ABC and the Sydney Opera House. After graduating from the Pre-Professional Year, Tayla joined Sydney Dance Company as Trainee in 2024. Liam Green Having grown up in Perth, Liam trained with a range of local schools, including Dynamic Performing Arts and The Graduate College of Dance. At 15, Liam was accepted into the Advanced Diploma of Dance at WAAPA, the youngest to enter the program. Liam worked with the West Australian Ballet for five years, ending his time at the Company as a Demi-Soloist, before joining Sydney Dance Company in 2019. Liam’s repertoire is expansive and diverse, including works such as Radio and Juliet by Edward Clug, In Transit by Annabelle Lopez Ochoa and WOOF by Melanie Lane. Liam has also completed a Bachelor of Commerce, majoring in Finance and Economics, at The University of Western Australia.

Luke Hayward Luke was born in Alice Springs and received his early training at Central Dance Theatre and Alice Springs Gymnastics before moving to Sydney to train at Tanya Pearson’s Classical Coaching Academy and Studio Tibor. He then furthered his studies in Germany by completing a Bachelor of Dance at Palucca Hochschule für Tanz Dresden. While there, Luke interned at Yuval Pick’s National Choreographic Center De Rillieux-la-Pape and Elena Tupyseva’s Balet Moskva. Upon graduating with Honours, he received the Ingrid-Biedenkopf-Stipendium and accepted a contract with Theater Balet Moskva in Moscow, where he joined their Ballet troupe and Contemporary troupe as a Soloist for the 2016/17 Season. Luke joined Sydney Dance Company in 2019 and has worked with an extensive array of choreographers including Rafael Bonachela, Gabrielle Nankivell, Melanie Lane, Gideon Obarzanek and Ohad Naharin.

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Dancers Morgan Hurrell Born and raised in Mudgee NSW, Morgan began her early training at age 2 and attended Dance Unlimited until 2019. Focusing on her passion for contemporary dance, at age 17 Morgan had numerous offers for full-time placements. She accepted an offer to attend National College of Dance in Newcastle where she completed her Diploma of Dance. In 2021 Morgan moved to Sydney to study an Advanced Diploma of Dance with Sydney Dance Company’s PreProfessional Year. She joined Sydney Dance Company as a Trainee at the end of 2021, supported by The Wales Family, and her first onstage performance with the Company was in Jacopo Grabar’s work Stereotipo for New Breed 2021.

Ngaere Jenkins Born in Aotearoa/New Zealand, Ngaere is of Te Arawa and Ngāti Kahungunu descent. She trained at the New Zealand School of Dance, graduating in 2018. During her studies, she worked with influential mentors including James O’Hara, Victoria (Tor) Colombus, Taiaroa Royal and Tanemahuta Gray. She performed works by Damien Jalet, Huang Yi, Sarah Foster-Sproull, Malia Johnston and Gabby Thomas. Ngaere represented the school as a guest artist in Tahiti at the Académie de Danse Annie FAYN fifth International Dance Festival and Singapore Ballet Academy’s 60th Anniversary Gala. From 2019 – 2023 Ngaere worked full-time with The New Zealand Dance Company performing in Matariki for Tamariki (Sean MacDonald); This Fragile Planet (Nina Nawalowalo, Tom McCrory & Ross McCormack), What They Said (Jo Lloyd), If Never Was Now (Stephanie Lake), Sigan (Kim Jae Duk), The Fibonacci (Tor Colombus), Uku (Eddie Elliott) and Stage of Being (Xin Ji & Tupua Tigafua). She has had the privilege of performing in Mana Wahine by Ōkāreka Dance Company, working with Atamira Dance Company and being immersed in rich movement amongst the dance community of Aotearoa. In 2023, Ngaere was the recipient of the Bill Sheats Dance Award. Ngaere joined Sydney Dance Company in October 2023, debuting in the tenth anniversary season of New Breed. Sophie Jones Sophie grew up in Angourie NSW and trained with Adele Lewis School of Dance. At the age of 14 she moved to Burleigh Heads, Queensland to begin full time ballet training and further her studies with Prudence Bowen Atelier. After extensive years of training she received a traineeship with the Joffrey Ballet in Chicago where she worked with numerous choreographers and performed Etudes by Harald Lander, and George Balanchine’s Serenade. After discovering an interest in contemporary dance, Sophie completed her diploma and advanced diploma with Sydney Dance Company’s Pre Professional Year in 2020 and 2021. During this time she had the opportunity to perform works by Holly Doyle, Omer Backley-Astrachan, Jessica Goodfellow and Rafael Bonachela. Sophie joined Sydney Dance Company as a Trainee in January 2022, supported by the David and Fee Hancock Foundation.

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Dancers Connor McMahon Connor began training at Planetdance in Sydney, Australia and continued his contemporary dance training at Ev & Bow, receiving his Diploma of Dance in 2021. During his final year, Connor made his musical theatre debut as Baby John in Opera Australia/GWB Entertainment’s production of West Side Story in Perth, WA, which toured nationally. Since graduating, Connor has performed in Sydney Choreographic Centre’s production Galileo with Francesco Ventriglia. Connor joined Sydney Dance Company in July 2022.

Ryan Pearson Ryan is of Biripi and Worimi descent on his mother’s side and Minang, Goreng and Balardung on his father’s side. He was born and raised in Taree, New South Wales. He began his dance training at NAISDA at age 16, after taking part in the NSW Public Schools’ Aboriginal Dance Company, facilitated by Bangarra’s Youth Program Team in 2012. During his time at NAISDA, Ryan learnt from a number of renowned teachers and choreographers. He joined Bangarra Dance Theatre in 2017 as part of the Russell Page Graduate Program, debuting in Bennelong. Over seven years he performed throughout Australia and internationally with the company led by renowned storytellers Stephen Page and Frances Rings. Ryan was nominated in the 2020 Australian Dance Awards for Most Outstanding Performance by a Male Dancer for his performance in Jiri Kylian’s Stamping Ground (2019 Production, 30 years of sixty-five thousand). In 2023, Ryan presented his first choreographic work, 5 Minute Call as part of Dance Clan. Ryan joined Sydney Dance Company in 2024. Piran Scott Born in Mackay, Australia, Piran trained under Lynette Denny AM at Theatre Arts Mackay. He then completed the Professional Year program with the Queensland Ballet, before joining the company as a full member in 2010, under the artistic direction of Francois Klaus. In 2013, Piran received a soloist position with the Leipzig Ballet in Germany, under Mario Schroeder. He then became a soloist with the Ballet Theater Basel in Switzerland, directed by Richard Wherlock, followed by successful seasons with the Dance Company St. Gallen under Kinsun Chan, where he was awarded Dancer of the Year 2022 in “tanz” magazine Europe. Piran has been a professional dancer for over 10 years, performing numerous classical and contemporary works. Piran joined Sydney Dance Company in 2023.

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Dancers Emily Seymour Sydney born, Emily Seymour began her training in all styles of dance at All Starz Performing Arts Studio and later studied full-time ballet at Tanya Pearson Classical Coaching Academy. In 2016, Emily was a member of Houston Ballet II for two years, following a year as an Apprentice with Houston Ballet Company. While in Houston, Emily performed in works by Stanton Welch, Alexander Ekman, John Neumeier, George Balanchine and many more. Emily joined West Australian Ballet as a Young Artist for one year before joining Sydney Dance Company in 2018. Emily’s first performance with the Company was at the Théâtre National De Chaillot in Paris, followed by Sydney Dance Company’s European Spring Tour. Since joining the Company, Emily has performed in Rafael Bonachela’s ab [intra], Frame of Mind and Lux Tenebris; Melanie Lane’s WOOF; and Gabrielle Nankivell’s Wildebeest and Neon Aether. Mia Thompson Mia was born in Queensland and started her dance training at the age of four with the Yvonne Brittain Dance Academy. She went on to join Queensland Ballet’s Pre-Professional Year in 2010 where she performed alongside the Company in many productions. In 2011 Mia joined West Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA). After completing two years at WAAPA, Mia accepted a job with Queensland Ballet under the directorship of Li Cunxin. In 2016, Mia joined the Scottish Ballet and was promoted to First Artist in 2018. Her highlights include Crystal Pite’s Emergence, Sir Kenneth MacMillan’s Le Baiser de la Fée (performed on the Royal Opera House stage) and the role of the Sugarplum Fairy in Peter Darrel’s The Nutcracker. Mia joined Sydney Dance Company in 2019.

Coco Wood Born in Ballarat, Victoria, Coco started training at the Kerry Moore School of Ballet. In 2015 she was accepted into the Victorian College of the Arts Secondary School in Melbourne where she performed in many works, notably Tim Harbour’s contemporary work Romeo and Juliet and Jonathon Taylor’s Summer’s End. At the end of her schooling, Coco was accepted into third year of the Bachelor’s Degree (Honours) at the Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance in London. In 2020, Coco was accepted into Sydney Dance Company’s Pre-Professional Year program, where she engaged in works by Holly Doyle, Jessica Goodfellow, Omer Backley-Astrachan and Rafael Bonachela. In 2021, Coco performed in Rhiannon Newton’s The Gift of a Warning for New Breed and joined Sydney Dance Company as a Trainee in 2022, supported by The Wales Family.

Chloe Young Chloe graduated from Queensland National Ballet’s Advanced Diploma in Elite Performance in 2016. Chloe performed with Queensland National Ballet School as Alice in Alice in Wonderland, a soloist in Mulan, and Phyrgia in Spartacus, as well as a special guest at the Alana Haines Australian Awards (2017) and the Press Freedom Dinner (2017). In 2017, Chloe graduated from Sydney Dance Company’s Pre-Professional Year and joined the Company as Trainee in 2018. Chloe’s first onstage performance with the Company was in Rafael Bonachela’s award winning works Frame Of Mind and Lux Tenebris during the Company’s South America Tour to Chile and Colombia in 2018. She has since performed in Rafael Bonachela’s Cinco, ab [intra] and Impermanence, as well as Gabrielle Nankivell’s Wildebeest, Antony Hamilton’s Forever and Ever and Melanie Lane’s WOOF.

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Richard Cilli Richard Cilli, Rehearsal Director Born in Boorloo (Perth), Richard Cilli trained at WAAPA and Taipei National University of the Arts before joining Sydney Dance Company in 2009. His international performing career has seen him work with a range of choreographers including Rafael Bonachela, Lloyd Newson, Stephanie Lake, Anouk van Dijk, Jacopo Godani, Lucy Guerin, Gideon Obarzanek, Alexander Ekman, Adam Linder, Emanuel Gat and Kenneth Kvarnström, Richard has danced with Sydney Dance Company, Rambert, Chunky Move, Australasian Dance Collective, Dancenorth, Lucy Guerin Inc. and K.Kvarnström & Co (Sweden). In 2010 he was awarded the Helpmann for Best Male Dancer for his performance in Rafael Bonachela’s we unfold, and in 2012 won the Australian Ballet’s 50th Anniversary Ballet Competition. As a choreographer he has created work for Sydney Dance Company, The Australian Ballet, Pre-Professional Year, LINK Dance Company and WAAPA, as well as various independently produced works. A certified Countertechnique teacher, Richard has taught at institutions around Australia and the world, including the 2019 One Body, One Career intensive in Montreal, Canada. Richard assumed the role of Rehearsal Director at Sydney Dance Company in 2021. Since then he has worked on Impermanence national tour, Bonachela’s dance film Years, New Breed 2021 & 2022, Ohad Naharin’s Decadance, the French tour of ab [intra], and 2022’s triple bill Resound.

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Charmene Yap Charmene Yap, Rehearsal Associate Charmene Yap is a multi-award-winning dancer, rehearsal director and choreographer. She is a graduate of the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts and Purchase College New York. In her early career, Charmene was a recipient of an Australian Council Skills and Development Grant and nominee of the prestigious Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative Award. Prior to her decade of performing with Sydney Dance Company, Charmene danced for companies Chunky Move, Tasdance, Dancenorth, Lucy Guerin Inc., Armitage Gone! Dance Company and worked with numerous choreographers including Tanja Liedtke and Antony Hamilton. She has featured in films including Think Of Yourself As Plural by David Rosetzky, Del Kathryn Barton’s Red, and Katie Noonan’s music video Quicksand. Charmene joined Sydney Dance Company as a dancer in 2010, performing the majority of works by Artistic Director Rafael Bonachela, and other Australian and international choreographers including William Forsythe, Alexander Ekman and Stephanie Lake. She has won numerous awards including the Helpmann Award for Best Female Dancer in 2012, the Australian Dance Award in 2013 for 2 One Another, and the Helpmann Award for Best Female Dancer in 2014 for 2 in D Minor. As a choreographer, Charmene has created for stage, short films, music clips and fashion shows. This includes Grey Rhino with cochoreographer Cass Mortimer Eipper, which premiered in Sydney Festival 2022, and works performed by Sydney Dance Company and Co3 Company. She was choreographer/ movement director for Belvoir’s new work Tell Me I’m Here, and assistant choreographer for

Gideon Obarzanek’s Us 50 which celebrated Sydney Dance Company’s 50th Anniversary. In September 2019, Charmene commenced her role as Sydney Dance Company’s inaugural Rehearsal Associate, supported by the Nelson Meers Foundation and Sydney Dance Company’s Dancers’ Circle, working with the company’s artistic and education departments. In 2022, Charmene choreographed a new work Drunk Tank Pink for Sydney Dance Company’s annual New Breed season copresented with Carriageworks and supported by The Balnaves Foundation.

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Staff Board of Directors

Management

Emma-Jane Newton (Chair) David Baxby Prof Larissa Behrendt AO Jillian Broadbent AC David Friedlander Emma Gray Alexa Haslingden Mark Hassell Sandra McCullagh Paris Neilson Bianca Spender

Artistic Director Rafael Bonachela

Learning Administrator Eugenie English

Executive Director Lou Oppenheim

Head of Training Linda Gamblin

Executive Assistant Amy Burrows

Pre-Professional Year Course Coordinator Tobiah Booth-Remmers

International Patron Dame Darcey Bussell DBE

Associate Producer - Ensemble Kerry Thampapillai

Ambassadors Judy Crawford Bee Wood Jules Maxwell Dance Noir Committee Co-Chairs: Mandy Foley Peter Reeve Committee Fuzz Ali, Sally Burleigh, Jane Clifford, Debbie Coffey, Irene Deutsch, Georgie Fergusson, Alexa Haslingden, Sarah Myer, Paris Neilson, Mim Stacey, Stephen Thatcher and Michelle Walsh.

Senior Producer Dominic Chang

Associate Producer - Wharf Michael Sieders Chief Financial Officer Sean Radcliffe Accountant Melissa Sim Payroll Assistant Carina Mision Director Training and Education Polly Brett Head of Open Programs & Learning Samantha Dashwood Dance Class Manager Ramon Doringo Learning Manager Justine Turner Learning Coordinator Jacqueline Cooper

Training Associate Juliette Barton Conditioning Studio Manager Felicity McGee Customer Service Assistant Jack Calver Director Philanthropy and Partnerships Alan Watt Philanthropy Manager Lachlan Bell Trusts and Foundations Manager Madeleine White Philanthropy and Venues Coordinator Bianca Mulet Head of Market Development Olivia Blackburn Head of CRM and Business Intelligence Louise Davidson

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The Company Ticketing Specialist John Calvi

Rehearsal Director Richard Cilli

Marketing Manager Natalie Zagaglia

Rehearsal Associate Charmene Yap

Marketing and Communications Coordinators Vivienne Crowle Laurance Corbett

Dancers Lucy Angel Timmy Blankenship Anika Boet Naiara de Matos Dean Elliott Riley Fitzgerald Tayla Gartner Liam Green Luke Hayward Morgan Hurrell Ngaere Jenkins Sophie Jones Connor McMahon Ryan Pearson Piran Scott Emily Seymour Mia Thompson Coco Wood Chloe Young

Head of Media Communications Alexandra Barlow Head of Strategic Communications Natalia Carozzi Resident Multimedia Artist Pedro Greig Technical Director Guy Harding Company and Resident Stage Manager Simon Turner

Head Physiotherapist Ashlea-Mary Cohen

Production Coordinator Tony McCoy

Company Doctor Dr. Michael Berger

Production Technicians Jem Hoppe Shane Placentino

Sports Doctor Dr. James Lawrence

Head of Wardrobe Annie Robinson Wardrobe Lisa Mimmochi

Company Teachers Emily Amisano Anton Sara Black Holly Doyle Cathie Goss Samantha Hines Billy Keohavong Chloe Leong Iohna Mercer Rhiannon Newton

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Sydney Dance Company Wharf 4/5 15 Hickson Road DAWES POINT NSW 2000 Join the Conversation #SydneyDanceCompany #2024SDC sydneydancecompany.com Facebook @sydneydanceco Instagram @sydneydanceco @sydneydanceco.training @sydneydanceco.classes Twitter @sydneydanceco YouTube sydneydancecompany

Our Partners We would like to thank all our Partners for their generous support and acknowledge those who have given anonymously. Our Partners make it possible for us to create and present new work, inspire future generations of artists and audiences, extend our reach and plan for the future.

Take A Step & Take A Seat Campaigns We would like to thank our Take A Step and Take A Seat supporters, who enabled the transformation of our Walsh Bay Arts Precinct home.

We couldn’t do it without you!

NSW Government

If you would like more information about joining our family, please contact our Philanthropy Team on 02 9258 4882 or email philanthropy@ sydneydancecompany.com

The Neilson Foundation The Wales Family Jane & Andrew Clifford Catriona Mordant AM & Simon Mordant AO The late Carla Zampatti AC

Platinum Partners A special thank you to our Platinum Partners for their enduring commitment and passion for Sydney Dance Company. Robert Albert AO & Elizabeth Albert The Balnaves Foundation Jane & Andrew Clifford Crown Resorts Foundation Julian Knights AO & Lizanne Knights Jules Maxwell Andrew Messenger Naomi Milgrom AC Naomi Milgrom Foundation The Neilson Foundation Judith Neilson AM Packer Family Foundation Gretel Packer AM Thyne Reid Foundation The Wales Family Foundation Carla Zampatti Foundation Mary Zuber ______________________________ Visionary Patron Brett Clegg

Take a Step

Brett Clegg & Annabel Hepworth Julian Knights AO & Lizanne Knights Pam & Doug Bartlett Kiera Grant & Mark Tallis The Alexandra & Lloyd Martin Family Foundation Karen Moses Emma-Jane Newton & Chris Paxton Thyne Reid Foundation Mary Zuber Paul Brady & Christine Yip Alexa & David Haslingden Jane & Richard Freudenstein Mark Hassell The late Carina Martin In memory of Nora McCullagh David Mathlin Ezekiel Solomon AM Judi Wolf & Alden Toevs Rafael Bonachela & Joe Lawler Michelle & Logan Boyle Jillian Broadbent AC & Olev Rahn Peter & Liz Brownie Tony Burke & the late Janice Burke Benjamin Cisterne Debbie Coffey

Alexandra Considine Jade & Richard Coppleson Chum Darvall AM Anne Dunn & Patricia Buick Donna & Carl Jackson Tina & Mark Johnson Longreach Ownership Trust Michael Lynch & the late Chrissy Sharp Macquarie Group Foundation Rohan Morris Lizzi Nicoll Nick Read Peter Reeve & Jaycen Fletcher Leslie Stern Victoria Taylor Susan Wynne Take a Seat Robert & Libby Albert David Baxby Selina Baxby Jillian Broadbent AC Todd Buncombe Livinia Clegg Janine Collins Desmon Du Plessis & David Jonas Anne Dunn & Patricia Buick Deborah & David Friedlander Margaret Gibbs Andy Grant Poppy Mallett In memory of Nola McCullagh Karen Moses Paris Neilson India Neville Lizzi Nicoll Emma-Jane Newton Chris Paxton Tim Rahn Nick Read Victoria & Peter Shorthouse Catherine Smithson Ruth & Bruce Smithson Noel Staunton In loving memory of Ian Wallace

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Dancers’ Circle To celebrate our milestone 50th anniversary in 2019, we were proud to establish the Dancers’ Circle, which directly supports the growth and development of our ensemble of dancers, enabling pathways for their time with the Company and beyond. Patron: Julian Knights AO Hayley & James Baillie Brett Clegg & Annabel Hepworth Manuela Darling Deborah & David Friedlander Paula & Damien Cronin Margaret Gibbs Andrew & Emma Gray The Hansen Family Julian Knights AO & Lizanne Knights Roslyn Packer AC In memory of Nola McCullagh Rachel & Neil Sinden Pip & Dick Smith Foundation Mary Zuber 2024 Early Careers Artists The Wales Family Foundation 2024 Company Traineeship The Wales Family Foundation ______________________________ 2024 Accessibility Partner JACE Foundation

_____________________________ Annual Partner Program Our annual Partner Program underpins all of our activities, enabling us to create, commission and share exceptional contemporary dance experiences with people of all ages, across Australia and around the world. Performance Partners ($20,000 - $50,000) Jillian Broadbent AC & Olev Rahn Andrew & Emma Gray Alexa & David Haslingden Susan Maple-Brown AM & the late Robert Maple-Brown AO Emma-Jane Newton & Chris Paxton Nelson Meers Foundation Ruth Ritchie Family Fund Studio Partners ($10,000+) Pam & Doug Bartlett John Barrer David & Selina Baxby Aniek Baten Paul Brady & Christine Yip Susie Dickson & the late Martin Dickson AM Helen Eager & Christopher Hodges Girgensohn Foundation Kay Freedman & the late Ian Wallace Kathryn Greiner AO John Griffiths & Beth Jackson In memory of Nola McCullagh Lou Oppenheim Rebel Penfold-Russell OAM Matt Shelmerdine Leslie Stern & John Head Victoria Taylor Alenka Tindale Barbara Wilby & Christopher Joyce Duet Partners ($5,000+) John Kaldor AO The Berg Family Foundation Jane Bridge Andrew Cameron AM & Cathy Cameron Ari & Lisa Droga

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Terri Hollings in memory of Erin Ostadal Linda Herd Denise Kirkpatrick David Mathlin & Camilla Drover Karen Moses Paris Neilson & Todd Buncombe Rachel Parratt & Brett Lunn Catherine Parr & Paul Hattaway peckvonhartel architects Dr Natalie E Pelham & Prof Carol Mills Greeba Pritchard Kellie & Warryn Robertson Stedmans CA Scala & DB Studdy Penelope Seidler AM Catherine Smithson Kathy White Adam Worling Public Relations Dance Partners ($2,000+) Phillip & Catherine Brenner Jacqui Burton Dr Michelle Deaker Suellen & Ron Enestrom Annalise Fairfax Bradford Gorman & Dean Fontana Cheryl Hatch Gabrielle Iwanow Aleksandra Jaksic Tina & Mark Johnson Desmon Du Plessis & the late David Jonas Elias & Jana Juanas Susan Perrin-Kirby Peter Reeve & Jaycen Fletcher Sarah Rennie Bernard Ryan & Michael Rowe Ezekiel Solomon AM Cheryl M Spoor Christine Thomson David Wayne Ray Wilson OAM Rehearsal Partners ($1,000+) Janet Abernethy & Richard Willis Michael Adena & Joanne Daly Anna Baillie-Karas Rob Coombe Susanne de Ferranti Tanya Diesel Helen Forrester Steve & Emma Fouracre Bunny Gardiner-Hill Belinda Gibson

Amber Gooley Anna & Richard Green Ben Harlow Hon Don Harwin Kaye Hocking Graham & Judy Hubbard Bernadette Walker & Allen Iu Lynton Jamieson Alicia K Kemp Robert Kidd Tanja Liedtke Endowment Royston Lim Susie Manfred & Hunter McPherson Kate Richardson & Chris Marrable Greg Peirce Marion Pascoe Dominique Robinson James Sharp & Karl May Dr Brindha Shivalingam Jann Skinner Mike Thompson Alan & Flavia Young Ensemble Partners ($250+) Andre & Daphne Alice Bedlington Sarah Brasch Dr Cynthia a Beckett & Gordon Smith Michelle Casey Stephen Chase & Colette Baini Richard Cobden SC Max Dingle OAM Rachael Haggett Josie Gurney Josephine Key & the late Ian Breden Doreen & Phillip Marsh Wouter Roesems Mark & Jennifer Royle Norman R Scott Cynthia Scott Stuart Thomas David Thomson OAM Sylvia Tooth Silke & Christian Zentner

2024 Carla Zampatti Commissioning Fund With visionary support from the Carla Zampatti Foundation. Together with the generosity of the Neilson Foundation and 2023 Carla Zampatti Commissioning Fund supporters. Pam & Doug Bartlett Paul Brady & Christine Yip Jillian Broadbent AC & Olev Rahn Belinda Gibson Kathryn Greiner AO John Griffiths & Beth Jackson Alexa & David Haslingden Linda Herd Dr Kenneth Howison John Kaldor AO Alicia K Kemp Julian Knights AO & Lizanne Knights Macquarie Group Foundation David Mathlin & Camilla Drover Jules Maxwell In memory of Nola McCullagh Karen Moses Paris Neilson & Todd Buncombe Rebel Penfold-Russell OAM & Ian Low Ruth Ritchie Family Fund Penelope Seidler AM Matt Shelmerdine Stedmans Leslie Stern & John Head

Bequests The Estate of C.R. Adamson The Estate of Patricia Cameron-Stewart The Estate of Janet Fischer The Estate of Patricia Leehy The Estate of Carina Martin The Estate of Lorelle Thomson The Estate of Peggy Watson (Raczkowska) 2024 Pre-Professional Year Doug Hall Foundation Scholarship The Wales Family Scholarships Mary Zuber Scholarship The Hephzibah Artist Development Program _________________________ 2024 Training Associate Tim Fairfax AC __________________________ 2024 Training Administrator Tim Fairfax AC

_____________________________ 2024 Touring Fund John Barrer Jane Bridge Susie Dickson & the late Martin Dickson AM Bunny Gardiner-Hill Girgensohn Foundation Rick Gove Emma & Andrew Gray Kathryn Greiner AO Matt Shelmerdine Catherine Smithson Victoria Taylor Sylvia Tooth Kathy White Barbara Wilby & Christopher Joyce

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Our Partners Government Partners Sydney Dance Company is assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council for the Arts, its arts funding and advisory body.

NEW BREED Principal Partner

Sydney Dance Company is supported by the NSW Government through Create NSW.

Artistic Director’s Commissioning Partner (Forever & Ever) We thank the Naomi Milgrom Foundation for its support of our Forever & Ever Education Program, enabling school students to access transformative contemporary dance experiences.

Major Partners

Trusts & Foundations

Government Supporters

Company Partners

Associate Partners

Supporters

Committee for Sydney, Tattersalls Club, Stedmans, Samsonite, Heaps Normal

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