Current Secondary Resource Pack

Current Secondary School Resource Pack

About This Resource Pack This Resource Pack will help you deeply engage with and understand the performance of Current. There are a range of activities for you to undertake, including reading, writing, watching, and engaging in your own creative tasks.

The pack contains a BEFORE THE SHOW section with ideas for research and discussion in the lead up to seeing Current and an AFTER THE SHOW section with follow-up tasks to support learning in performance, composition and appreciation.

The suggested activities in the Current Resource Pack can be adapted by teachers to suit the requirements of Stages 4-6 in NSW and the equivalent in other states.

KEY Throughout this document, you will see the following icons: Before the Show After the Show Watch Read Explore Create Write Discuss

About Sydney Dance Company Artistic Director Rafael Bonachela About the Team Who Created Current Introducing the Company Dancers

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Alpha Mutt About Jenni Large Composer Louis Frere-Harvey Notes from the Costume Designer and Lighting Designer

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OUR(SELF) About Azzam Mohamed Composer Jack Prest Notes from the Costume Designer and Lighting Designer

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ONE SONG About Raghav Handa Composer James Peter Brown Outside Eye Vicki Van Hout Notes from the Costume Designer and Lighting Designer

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Creating a Safe Creative Space

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ONE SONG Creative and Appreciation Tasks Exploring the Stimulus

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Current Appreciation Tasks

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Extension: Dance Appreciation Task – Performance Review

38 - 39

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“Dance allows individuals and communities to shape their cultural identity and express their deepest feelings. These experiences continue to resonate throughout our lives, transforming our minds, bodies and souls.”

Rafael Bonachela

About Sydney Dance Company

Dance changes you. More than simply witnessing something beautiful, or engaging with culture, to experience dance is to be positively altered.

From performances at the Joyce Theatre in New York, to the Grand in Shanghai, the Stanislavsky in Moscow and the Sydney Opera House at home, Sydney Dance Company has proved that there are no passive observers in a contemporary dance audience.

The reward of truly moving audiences, and the raw pride of sharing Australian art with the world has driven our ensemble of 17 dancers, led by Artistic Director Rafael Bonachela, to become one of the world’s strongest forces in contemporary dance.

Alongside Bonachela’s original works, our programs have featured guest choreographers like Jacopo Godani, Alexander Ekman, Gideon Obarzanek and Cheng Tsung-lung, as well as collaborations with Sydney Festival, Australian Chamber Orchestra, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, David Jones and composers Bryce Dessner, Nick Wales, 48nord and the late Ezio Bosso.

What is contemporary dance?

In the 20th century, modern dance pioneers broke away from traditional dance styles. Instead of telling a clear story or copying expected moves, they focused on expressing ideas through movement — and you, the audience, get to decide what it means. As choreographer Merce Cunningham said, “an element itself is expressive; what it communicates is in large part determined by the observer.”

In contemporary dance, there’s no such thing as a passive audience. Sydney Dance Company’s Artistic Director Rafael Bonachela says, “you are our most important collaborator.” That means there’s no right or wrong way to watch a performance. You don’t need special knowledge or training — you just need to be open and present.

Anything can happen on stage. It’s not mainstream entertainment or fairy-tale storytelling. Instead, expect to feel something — maybe excitement, confusion, curiosity, or even discomfort. Contemporary dance often mixes art forms like technology, film, visual art, design, and fashion. It’s bold, experimental, and always changing.

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Our origins Sydney Dance Company is Australia’s leading contemporary dance company. It was established in 1969 by dancer Suzanne Musitz and was originally known as The Dance Company (NSW). In the mid-1970s, Dutch choreographer Jaap Flier became Artistic Director, helping to shape the company’s artistic direction.

In 1976, Australian choreographer Graeme Murphy was appointed Artistic Director.

Together with his creative partner Janet Vernon, Murphy renamed the company Sydney Dance Company in 1979. Over the next 30 years, they transformed the company into one of Australia’s most recognised performing arts organisations, creating acclaimed productions that toured nationally and internationally. During this time, Sydney Dance Company also became the first Western contemporary dance company to perform in China, marking an important milestone in its international history.

Since 2009, the company has been led by Spanish-born Artistic Director Rafael Bonachela.

Under his leadership, Sydney Dance Company has continued to evolve, creating bold and innovative contemporary dance works that are performed throughout Australia and around the world. The company collaborates with choreographers, composers, musicians, designers, visual artists and digital creatives to produce original performances that explore contemporary ideas and push the boundaries of dance.

Alongside its performances, Sydney Dance Company is committed to education and community engagement. The company delivers workshops, residencies and learning programs for students, teachers and community groups across Australia, helping people of all ages experience contemporary dance as both an art form and a way of expressing ideas.

Home at Walsh Bay Sydney Dance Company is based at Wharf 4/5 in the Walsh Bay Arts Precinct, on Sydney Harbour, close to the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Sydney Opera House. Its purpose-built studios opened in 1986 and were refurbished in 2021 to provide world-class spaces for rehearsal, performance, education and professional training.

The studios stand on the lands and waters of the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. Sydney Dance Company acknowledges the Gadigal people as the Traditional Custodians of this Country and recognises their continuing connection to land, waters and culture. We pay our respects to Elders past and present and extend that respect to all First Nations peoples.

Celebrating 40 Years at Wharf In 2026, Sydney Dance Company celebrates 40 years at Wharf 4/5, the home that has supported generations of dancers, artists and audiences. Although Sydney Dance Company’s history began in 1969, this anniversary celebrates the special relationship between the Company and its iconic waterfront home.

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Artistic Director Rafael Bonachela Rafael Bonachela was born in Barcelona where he began his early dance training before moving to London. In 1992 he joined the legendary Rambert Dance Company.

He remained with Rambert as a dancer and Associate Choreographer until 2006 when he successfully set up the Bonachela Dance Company (BDC) to concentrate on the rapid rise of his choreographic career. As a choreographer, Rafael has been commissioned to make works for Dresden Frankfurt Dance Company, Candoco, George Piper Dances, ITDANSA Danza, Contemporanea de Cuba, Transitions Dance Company and Dance Works Rotterdam, amongst others.

In 2008, Bonachela premiered 360°, his first full-length production for Sydney Dance Company. Less than six months later, he was appointed Artistic Director, making headlines around the dance world. His vision for the Company embraces a guiding principle that has seen the repertoire grow, with the addition of commissioned dance works from Australian and visiting international guest choreographers.

These works are often programmed alongside Rafael’s own creations, ensuring diversity for audiences and providing much sought-after opportunities for his remarkable ensemble of dancers to be exposed to the work of some of the most in- demand choreographers of our time.

Rafael Bonachela’s internationally recognized talent has seen him work not only with contemporary dance at the highest level, but also with artists from popular culture, such as Kylie Minogue, Tina Turner, Sarah Blasko and Katie Noonan, as well as leading fashion designers Bianca Spender, Dion Lee and Toni Maticevski.

Such collaborative efforts reflect the inspiration he finds and utilises from contemporary culture.

You can read more of Rafael’s biography here.

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About the Team Who Created Current Performance and Production There are many people who work with the creative team to bring dance works to the stage.

The Sydney Dance Company Artistic Team who has worked on Current are listed below.

Richard Cilli – Director Ensemble and Repertoire Charmene Yap Rehearsal Associate

Simon Turner - Company and Resident Stage Manager

As key members of the artistic team, Richard and Charmene lead rehearsals to make the performance the best it can be every performance and create the dancers’ schedule when they are in the studio and performing.

Simon communicates with the whole team to ensure the show runs smoothly, letting the dancers know when they’re needed on stage, and telling the sound engineer to start a new sound cue.

Guy Harding - Technical Director

Mary-Ellen Baxter - Head of Wardrobe

Guy is the technical expert who supervises various aspects of Current like lighting and set changes throughout the work. Guy worked closely with costume and set designers to bring their vision to life, including the staging and lighting elements.

Mary-Ellen’s job is to sew the costume designer’s ideas into items of clothing, making sure the dancers costumes are comfortable to dance in, and ensuring they’re clean and mended for every performance.

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Company Dancers

Ali Dib

Caití Ellen Carpenter

Finn Armstrong

Jai Fauchon

Lucy Angel

Mahalia Adamson (Trainee)

Mali Comlekci

Mathilda Ballantyne

Morgan Hurrell

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Naiara de Matos

Ngaere Jenkins

Piran Scott

Ryan Pearson

Sam Winkler

Sonrisa Hubbard

Sophie Jones

Timmy Blankenship

Dancer photo credits: Daniel Boud

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Photo: Jez Smith

Alpha Mutt

Choreographer

Jenni Large in collaboration with the dancers

Composer

Louis-Frere Harvey

Lighting Designer

Alexander Berlage

Costume Designer

Aleisa Jelbart

Associate Costume Designer

Nicole Artsetos

Cast

Finn Armstrong, Mathilda Ballantyne, Timmy Blankenship, Morgan Hurrell, Ngaere Jenkins, Ryan Pearson

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About Jenni Large

Jenni Large is an independent dancer, teacher, and award-winning choreographer/director based in Northern Lutruwita/Tasmania. Her practice spans over 15 years across Australia and internationally, performing across Europe, the UK, Aotearoa New Zealand, the Americas, Japan, and Singapore with companies such as Dancenorth, Tasdance and Legs On The Wall. Influenced by cinematic tropes and hyper-aesthetics, she creates visually striking choreographic worlds that interrogate patriarchal systems, celebrate women, and challenge sexual stigma. Her works include Body Body Commodity, Phantom Femme Fatale, and Wet Hard Long, the latter receiving a Green Room Award nomination for Best Visual Design and a nomination for the Rose International Dance Prize at Sadler’s Wells, London. Jenni is a recipient of the 2022 Chloé Munro Fellowship and has created commissioned works for Australian Dance Theatre (Faraway), Sydney Dance Company (New Breed and PPY), Lucy Guerin Inc (Pieces), Australasian Dance Collective, WAAPA, and others. She is currently the Balnaves Artist in Residence at Sydney Dance Company.

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A note from the Choreographer

Initial musings around Alpha Mutt grew from my ongoing fascination with duality and power dynamics, and the body as the inevitable site of these exchange. The dog became an irresistible metaphor — both domesticated and feral, obedient and instinctual, subordinate and alpha.

Heel, sit, stay… Good dog.

Dogs appear persistently throughout art as proxies for our own appetites, politics and power structures. Paula Rego’s ‘Dog Women’ paintings from 1994 became a particularly potent reference — physically unapologetic, sensual, awkward, aggressive and powerful figures that destabilise the assumption that submission equates to powerlessness. In VALIE EXPORT’s pivotal 1968 performance ‘From the Portfolio of Doggedness’, she led artist and partner Peter Weibel, dressed in a business suit, on all fours through the streets of conservative post-war Vienna. Emerging from EXPORT’s fierce resistance to the patriarchal, religious and social structures that sought to determine women’s lives and bodies, her work exposed how quickly power can shift when we rearrange who stands, who follows and who holds the leash.

In the studio, we’ve explored the duality between hyper-control and rabid expression — slow motion against dynamism, vertical bodies against bodies brought to all fours. Doing less can say more. We became curious about when an action becomes a pattern, a pattern becomes a rule, and a rule begins to feel unquestionable. How does verticality represent power? Who stands, who lowers, who follows — and when does the hierarchy reverse?

Dance itself is already full of these contradictions.

Dancers submit themselves to extraordinary discipline; we repeat, refine, synchronise, follow, lead and surrender to the rules of choreography.

There is safety in knowing the steps, pleasure in moving together and tremendous power in the collective — which perhaps makes the darker possibilities of obedience all the more complicated.

Working with dancers Ngaere, Timmy, Ryan, Mathilda, Finn and Morgan has made these explorations increasingly physical. Their precision, instinct, individuality and willingness to submit themselves to the work are, quite literally, what creates it. The choreography asks them to move between meticulous detail and abandon, demanding both individual agency and submission to the rules we’ve created. I am grateful for their trust, intelligence, humour and stamina. To my collaborators — composer Louis Frere-Harvey, costume designers and fabricators Aleisa Jelbart and Nicole Artsetos and lighting designer Alex Berlage — thank you for bringing your unique instincts and expertise into the pack. Your ideas and craft have built Alpha Mutt’s habitat.

Thank you to Raf, Richard and Charmene for your belief, generosity and support throughout the process, and to the production crew and marketing team for your patience, skill and guidance. And to the extended family of SDC: thank you for welcoming me into the fold this year, across a multitude of roles. This little mutt wouldn’t have grown teeth without you.

I appreciate how fitting it is to create a work concerned with obedience and restraint within the very real parameters of a twelve-minute commission. Choreography is always an act of negotiation — with time, bodies, space, resources and the other voices it sits alongside. As Current marks 40 years of dance at the Wharf, I love that three choreographic perspectives are given space to coexist — each its own proposition, while part of a much longer lineage of bodies and ideas moving through this building.

Alpha Mutt cannot resolve the questions it sniffs around; instead, it occupies its small patch of territory with intensity. Engorge your eyes on these incredible dancers as they pull, pause, yield and rupture. What you make of it belongs to you.

Woof woof.

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Composer Louis Frere-Harvey Louis Frere-Harvey is an Australian composer, percussionist and performer whose work explores the intersection of contemporary classical music, electronic sound and movement. Drawing on a background in percussion and electronic music, he creates works that combine rhythmic intensity with immersive sonic environments, spanning chamber music, orchestral performance, dance, theatre and interdisciplinary practice.

Before focusing on composition, Louis spent a decade touring internationally as the DJ and producer Command Q. The influence of electronic music continues to shape his compositional language, informing a practice that integrates acoustic instruments, electronics and an acute sensitivity to physical movement and embodied listening.

His work has been commissioned, developed and presented by leading Australian and international artists and companies, including Club Guy & Roni, Slagwerk Den Haag, Australasian Dance Collective, Queensland Ballet, Milwaukee Ballet, Brooke Leeder, Scott Elstermann, The Last Great Hunt, ROOKE Circus, Sally Richardson and Mitchell Harvey Company. His music has been performed throughout Australia, Europe and North America, including presentations at the Venice Biennale.

Louis is the recipient of the inaugural Minderoo Foundation Artist Fund and has undertaken creative residencies with STRUT Dance and TasDance. He received the Performing Arts WA Award for Outstanding Composition in 2022 and 2024.

His practice is driven by an interest in rhythm as a physical and social force, creating music that invites audiences to experience sound through movement, space and shared presence.

Note It begins with a conversation, then shared images and a mood board, email threads, phone calls, Instagram messages, and finally after several back and forths, some sounds are found. From here a world is born in which the dance can exist.

For this project, Jenni asked me to create a score which stays in one progressing state, a state which evokes a sense of catharsis across

a 12-minute span. Working from distance at first to create the initial skeleton, then some time in the studio together to work alongside the dancers to refine the structure.

Alpha Mutt is a world of dogmas and dogs. It’s an exploration of power, suppression, oppression, and obsession. What does this sound like? Good question!

My first thought was to capture a sense of rhythmic drive using an industrial drum machine.

These drum sounds are naturally raw and distorted which slowly evolve and alter in intensity as the work progresses.

Then I thought ‘which sound closest represents our devotional reverence to any ideology?’ And it would have to be the human voice; in all its perfect imperfections. I recorded some text, then chopped, distorted, stretched, saturated basically made it both recognisable as a voice and also unrecognisable as just sounds or textures; hoping to capture an almost trance-like intensity to sit over the drums.

And just like that, the sonic world of Alpha Mutt is born.

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Notes from the Costume Designer and Lighting Designer A note from Lighting Designer Alexander Berlage

A note from Costume Designer Aleisa Jelbart

Alpha Mutt marks my fourth collaboration with Jenni and I wanted to build on the shared language we’ve developed together while continuing to push it somewhere new. I was drawn to using light to create contrast, suspense and tension - responding to the rhythms of the work and music, shifting between darkness and moments of sharp revelation. At times, I wanted the light to feel almost hypnotic: a pulsing, unpredictable force moving alongside the dancers.

For Alpha Mutt, I was drawn to the idea of deconstructing garments—taking everyday clothing and sportswear and transforming them into unique pieces. This felt like an interesting way to interpret Jenni’s brief which takes familiar concepts like dominance, obedience and authority and places them in a world entirely removed from the everyday. Store-bought clothes naturally evoke a sense of familiarity that we could warp and subvert. I began by designing each deconstructed look on paper and mapping out a balanced collection. Jenni and I were interested in developing exaggerated silhouettes with sleek, elevated styling and a grungy, rough edge, so it was important to plan this out before heading to the shops. From there I went looking for garments, navigating back and forth between my drawings and physical items with potential. Back in the Sydney Dance Company workroom, Costumier Nicole Artsetos and I worked closely together to realise the costumes, utilizing as much of the deconstructed clothing as possible. During Jenni’s time in the studio, we added tailored suit elements, with a few deconstructed twists. This felt like the final piece of the puzzle, adding a corporate, capitalist flavour to the overall look.

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Photo: Jez Smith

OUR(SELF)

Choreographer

Azzam Mohamed in collaboration with the dancers

Composer

Jack Prest

Recording Artists

Nicholas Meredith (Drums) Novak Manojlovic (Keys) Clayton Thomas (Double Bass) Peter Farrar (Saxophone)

Lighting Designer

Alexander Berlage

Costume Designer

Aleisa Jelbart

Associate Costume Designer

Nicole Artsetos

Cast

Mahalia Adamson, Mali Comlekci, Naiara de Matos, Ali Dib, Sonrisa Hubbard, Sophie Jones, Piran Scott

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About Azzam Mohamed

Azzam Mohamed is a Sudanese independent artist, educator, and MC working across performance, choreography, and curation. Based on Gadigal Land, his practice is deeply rooted in street and club cultures, drawing from African dances from Sudan and neighbouring regions through lived experience, community, and cultural exchange.

Recent collaborative works include Echo Mapping, co-created and co-choreographed with Jack Prest, which premiered at the Art Gallery of New South Wales in 2024, was presented at NAFA Festival in 2025 and Sydney Festival in 2026, and will tour nationally throughout August, September and October 2026. He also co-created and co-choreographed Katma, which premiered at Sydney Festival 2025 and was presented at Luminato Festival in Toronto in 2026.

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A note from the Choreographer

Alhamdulillah, first and foremost, for the opportunity, always.

OUR(SELF) was inspired by the documentary Come As You Are, which explores the cultural and social impact of the legendary Loft era in New York. What stayed with me was not so much the history of the club itself, but the idea of a space where people could arrive exactly as they were, and through music, movement and shared experience, find a sense of connection without having to give up what made them different.

That became an important starting point for this work. I was interested in exploring what happens when individuality is not something we try to smooth out, but something we celebrate and allow to shape the collective. Each dancer brings their own history, rhythm, physicality and way of moving, and I wanted to create a space where those individual movement languages could exist alongside one another, while still finding a shared rhythm. For me, the work became an exploration of self-expression, bodily memory and emotional access, and how our individual stories can come together to create something larger than any one of us.

Working from our different styles and identities became one of our greatest strengths. Music became our mediator, curiosity our bridge, and dancing our conversation. We didn’t need to speak the same movement language to understand one another. We listened, exchanged, supported and witnessed each other, allowing our differences to bring us closer. And we played, a lot! The studio became a playground for discovering ourselves, each other, and what we could create together.

Massive shoutout to the dance artists who made our time in the studio so much fun and memorable. Their contributions, offerings and generosity were at the heart of this work: Ali Dib, Sonrisa Hubbard, Mali Comlekci, Mahalia Adamson, Naira de Matos, Sophie Jones, Piran Scott, Jai Fauchon and Caití Carpenter, alongside secondment student Amber Griffiths, visiting from the UK. Thank you to Aleisa Jelbart for the costumes, Alexander Berlage for the lighting, and the entire production team for bringing the work into the theatre. Thank you to Sydney Dance Company for welcoming me into the space, with special thanks to Richard Cilli, Katy Green Loughrey, Kerry Thampapillai and Charmene Yap, Rafael Bonachela and to all the unsung heroes working behind the scenes, whose contributions helped bring the Current season to life.

OUR(SELF) draws from principles, practices and movement languages rooted in street, club and African dance forms, particularly Hip Hop, Breaking, Popping, House, West African dance and Afro House. Throughout the process, we explored elements from these forms not simply as steps or movement vocabulary, but through their foundations, energy, intention, musicality and ways of connecting with others.

We acknowledge and pay homage to the communities, cultures, pioneers and generations of dancers who have created, carried and continued to evolve these forms. Their knowledge and contributions extend far beyond this work, and we offer our respect and gratitude to the lineages that have made our exploration possible.

A huge thank you to my big bro, long-time collaborator, partner and duo, Jack Prest, who came through with an incredible soulful masterpiece of a track. Collaborating with Jack is always special, and the magic of the music would not have been possible without the incredible musicians who brought so much of themselves to it: Nicholas Meredith on drums, Novak Manojlovic on keys, Clayton Thomas on double bass and Peter Farrar on saxophone.

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Composer Jack Prest Jack Prest is a Sydney-based sound engineer, composer, and artist working across contemporary electronic, jazz, and experimental music. Known for a highly detailed and emotionally driven approach to sound, his work moves between left-field electronic music, improvisation, club production, ambient composition, and large-scale interdisciplinary projects. Drawing from both conceptual art and advanced studio practice, he approaches production and mixing as deeply creative acts, shaping records with atmosphere, depth, and emotional precision.

His compositions, performances, and collaborative projects have been presented through institutions and festivals including Sydney Opera House, Sadler’s Wells, Sziget Festival, Art Gallery of NSW, Bundanon, NTS, Dublab, Triple J and FBi Radio.

Alongside his artistic practice, Jack has spent over a decade working as a recording and mix engineer across Australia’s independent music communities. He is particularly recognised for work within left-field electronic and jazz contexts, including long-term collaborations with Godtet and a broad range of contemporary artists working across experimental, improvised, and hybrid forms.

Note When Azzam came to me with the concepts for OUR(SELF) the vibe was instinctually apparent. We needed something warm, thick, organic, soulful but also banging. Something with the euphoric energy of house music, but with something deeper. An energy to push and inspire Azzam’s choreography and drive the self-reflective concept central to the work.

The structure and impact of the electronic elements shifts in and out of phase with the vitality of the improvised performances. This creates a swirling tension and release in the sonic. The goal here was to give Azzam and the dancers two symbiotic yet competing energies.

This mirrors and enables the push and pull of the collective/individual in the dance. Tapping into the paradox that these concepts exist at once completely seperate and intricately entwined.

I knew that to achieve the desired result we couldn’t work only with electronic elements. So I took the score into the studio and recorded an amazing ensemble of jazz musicians to augment the production. Through a series of set improvised tasks we layered a variety of material which I have edited and shaped into the final form here.

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Notes from the Costume Designer and Lighting Designer A note from Lighting Designer Alexander Berlage

A note from Costume Designer Aleisa Jelbart

For OUR(SELF), the lighting is about holding space - for the music, for the movement and, most importantly, for the bodies within it. Rather than imposing another layer onto the work, the light creates a container through which the dancers can move, gather, separate and be celebrated. It expands and contracts around them, continually reshaping our sense of the space and allowing humanity to remain at its heart.

The costume design for OUR(SELF) has been an intuitive process - shaped by my response to the music, collaborative discussions and Azzam’s broader body of work. The process began when I attended a performance of his previous work Katma at Carriageworks. In the days that followed, I reflected on my experience - how immersed I became during the show, and my shifts in mood and self awareness. This was a great introduction to Azzam’s style and sat in the background of a lot of my thinking through the design process.

A couple of months later, Azzam shared the music for OUR(SELF) which I found helpful in understanding the tone for the work. It became clear that the costumes had the potential to be subtly stylized, rather than just channeling realism.

I avoided anything too explicitly character-driven, aiming instead for designs that captured an overall mood through colour, lustre, gentle patterns and detailing. Ultimately the feelings captured in the costumes strike a balance between an internal experience and collective energy.

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Photo: Jez Smith

ONE SONG

Choreographer

Raghav Handa

Composer

James Peter Brown

Lighting Designer

Alexander Berlage

Costume Designer

Aleisa Jelbart

Associate Costume Designer

Nicole Artsetos

Outside Eye

Vicki Van Hout

Cast

Mahalia Adamson, Lucy Angel, Finn Armstrong, Mathilda Ballantyne, Caití Ellen Carpenter, Ali Dib, Jai Fauchon, Sonrisa Hubbard, Ryan Pearson, Sam Winkler

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About Raghav Handa

Raghav Handa is a celebrated choreographer and dancer. His movement combines contemporary dance with Indian Kathak dance techniques to create a unique physical language used to explore complex and challenging themes.

Since establishing his distinctive artistic voice with his breakthrough works Tukre’ (2015) and Mens Rea (2016), his work has gained recognition and consistent support from funding bodies and festivals in Australia and overseas. Over the last decade, he has created a significant and critically acclaimed body of works including Dawn (2020) - Sydney Opera House Dances for Now; Cult of the Titans (2020) – Sydney Dance Company New Breed; Double Delicious (2021) - immersive theatre by Contemporary Asian Australian Performance, Sydney & Oz Asia Festivals; and Follies of God (2022) Keir Choreographic Awards & LIVEWORKS Festival.

Recently, with support from the Australian Foreign Office and Creative Australia, Raghav presented Superhero across major cities and festivals in India, including the Serendipity Arts Festival in Goa and the Mumbai Opera House. A large-scale production, Superhero features a cast drawn from both Australia and India, highlighting a dynamic cross-cultural collaboration.

His recent commissions include: The Art Gallery of NSW to create Wholly Glory for their 2025 public program and the Campbelltown Arts Centre to create The Assembly, a daring look into the intricacies of human existence. His recent awards include: Melbourne 2024 Green Room Award for his ground-breaking duet Two with internationally renowned Tabla master Maharshi Raval, the inaugural 2024 Maitri fellowship from the Centre for Australia-India Relations, recognising his role in strengthening cross-cultural connections and Sydney Dance Company’s 2025 Artist in Residence.

Raghav was profiled as one of Australia’s leading innovators by ABC Arts following his choreography of Sex Magick for Sydney World Pride 2023. He is a much sought-after mentor for emerging artists (Bangarra’s 2024 “Dance Clan”) and contributor at artist talks and dance forums.

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A note from the Choreographer

Sydney has always had a flair for the audacious.

A city of show-offs and storytellers, dancers and drifters, eccentrics and daredevils. Of people who reciteShakespeare for a dollar, make a spectacle on a street corner, dress for an entrance, cause a scene and disappear. Some become legends.

Others survive only as rumours.

In my work, I invent worlds charged with surreal imagery, complex rhythms and dynamic physicality to explore the shifting face of modern Australian cultural identity. When I was invited to create ONE SONG, I found myself thinking about the traditions that shape that identity, and, more curiously, how traditions begin? Do they start as a peculiarity, a weirdness - something reckless or unruly at the edges, the clippety-clop of high heels on footpath, a gesture, a dare - before finding their way into the mainstream?

ONE SONG takes these many pulses and supercharges them. The dancers gather, shimmer, unravel and surrender to them, carrying the audacity of what came before headlong into what comes next.

It has been an honour to make this work with the Company and my long-term collaborators. Thank you to James Peter Brown for composing our song for Sydney; Vicki Van Hout for authoring An Ode to Sydney Dance and bringing her eye to the work; Aleisa Jelbart for clothing this unruly world; and Alexander Berlage for illuminating it. My deepest gratitude to the dancers for their extraordinary commitment and artistry, to the entire creative team, and to Rafael for the invitation.

For Sydney, with love!

I wanted to create a world that belongs to Sydney: to catch something of its eccentrics and exhibitionists, oddities and oddballs, its grit and glamour!

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Composer James Peter Brown James Peter Brown is a composer, sound designer and theatre maker known for his evocative and diverse music scores. His practice investigates emotive experiences that explore character and aid storytelling. He has worked across a range of forms, from mainstage theatre and contemporary dance to film, documentary, animation, video games and virtual reality.

His processes often involve creating music and sound simultaneously with the development of a project, building connections between performance material and sound.

He holds a Bachelor of Visual Arts from Sydney College of the Arts, where his focus was composition and sound design for animation, and a Master of Acoustic Physics from the University of Sydney, for which his thesis examined the impacts of low frequency sound on the body and mind.

ONE SONG is his fifth major collaboration with Raghav Handa, following Cult of the Titans, Follies of God, The Assembly and Superhero.

Note This is my fifth collaboration with Raghav, and by now our process has its own instinct and language. For us the choreography and music are developed in synchronicity and are always inextricably linked. We’ve always been drawn to traditional and cultural instrumentation, but the interest for us isn’t in preserving it, it’s in pushing a sound until it becomes hyperreal, something different from where it began. For ONE SONG, I wanted to build a kind of hypersigil for Sydney: a score dense enough with reference that everything bleeds together, the way a city is never one voice but thousands, folding into each other until something new emerges. Underneath all of it, I wanted a joyful, frenetic energy, one that keeps building, the same restless evolution of cultures colliding and remaking each other, never settling into one fixed thing.

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An Ode to Sydney Dance

by Vicki Van Hout A company Seeded to hoist up the lower echelon(s) Through movement attributed to the lineages of the silver spoon born However, this housing harbouring hoofers amongst them All some would say enjoyed its Genesis original In an abode near to chocolate but nearer still Aligning itself with the cause seminal To emergent fighters fighting for freedoms To come out from the shadows and into light thrown by the mirror ball Departing Paddo and Onward to the loo starting with W Where night walkers mingled betwixt trans and cross Dressers Consuming the same oxygen as wharf Labourers and sailors and traders of fast cars To the place where it now sits In three/ four of six on Hicks On the water And like its First Nations neighbour Work it’s had done some

A lick of paint A new studio And a new theatrette has been added On to hide its proletariat Floating foundations Up Upon And whereby It made a bold splash Now gone two score Garnering the world’s attention But where to now one may well ask For the place where so many dreams are forged In shimmies, sways, swirls, twirls pirouettes and more than a little attitude From every inch of the city, and from the burbs, the outskirts of the countryside and yes even from other sovereignties Like the times changing with increasing rapidity And so it must be But where-to do we move onwards towards?

‘An Ode to Sydney Dance’ is a poem authored by Vicki Van Hout that sits alongside the ONE SONG, drawing inspiration from the history of Sydney Dance Company.

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Outside Eye Vicki Van Hout Vicki is a Wiradjuri woman born on the south coast of NSW and an Indigenous independent artist with over 30 years’ experience. A graduate of NAISDA and the Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance in New York, Vicki has performed with leading Indigenous dance companies including Bangarra Dance Theatre and the Aboriginal Islander Dance Theatre.

She was also a founding member of Fresh Dancers alongside Marilyn Miller, performing works such as Dear Carrie for One Extra Dance and Quinkin for the Adelaide Fringe Festival.

Her acclaimed work Briwyant was the first ever national tour by an independent Indigenous choreographer and was nominated for an Australian Dance Award for Best Achievement in Independent Dance. Her most recent solo work, plenty serious TALK TALK, received two Green Room Awards in 2020 (Best Performer and Best Production). Vicki was awarded the NSW Dance Fellowship for established and midcareer artists in 2014 – the first Indigenous artist to receive the honour – and the 2019 Australia Council Dance Award. She has undertaken residencies both in Australia and internationally (Austria, Singapore), and has recently completed her PhD while writing for FORM Dance Projects.

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Notes from the Costume Designer and Lighting Designer A note from Lighting Designer Alexander Berlage

A note from Costume Designer Aleisa Jelbart

My second collaboration with Raghav, ONE SONG looks at the history, energy and rhythms of Sydney. The lighting searches for a sense of warmth and familiarity while responding to the pulse that drives the work. Light becomes another rhythm within the space - shifting and evolving alongside the dancers, connecting the bodies of the present with the histories and stories that sit beneath the city.

The costumes for Raghav’s work draw on key moments and locations throughout Sydney Dance Company’s history. Fabrics, colours, and design elements find inspiration from the company’s early days in Paddington and imagining how life would have been for the dancers and local community. As a costume designer, I’ve worked with Sydney Dance Company for over 10 years and so designing these costumes also meant looking back at my own time on the Wharf moving through wardrobe, watching the dancers in the studio, running into people in the cafe.

Little glimpses of past generations, rehearsal wear and stage costumes are all present without being literal or obvious. They evoke memories and feelings, but transcend any particular time or place. Colour is also a distinct part of the work. By assigning analogous duotones to each dancer, we are able to see them as individuals and a group.

Given Raghav’s high energy choreography and fullness in the music, these bold, vibrant colours hold their own and feel entirely fitting for this joyous, spirited work.

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Creating a Safe Creative Space

When we dance, we aren’t just moving our bodies - we’re sharing ideas, expressing ourselves, and learning from each other. To do this well, it’s important that everyone in the room feels safe, supported, and free to explore new movements. A safe and creative space allows us to try out new ideas, take risks, and be adventurous with our dancing – without worrying about being judged. It also helps us work together as a team and enjoy the process of making dance.

At Sydney Dance Company, we focus on key values that help us build this kind of positive space: •

Safety – looking after ourselves and each other while we move. This includes using our bodies carefully, being aware of the space around us, and asking for help if we need it.

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Respect – listening to each other’s ideas, giving everyone a turn, and treating others the way we want to be treated. Respect also means valuing everyone’s creativity, even if it’s different from our own.

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Commitment – trying our best, even when something feels new or a bit tricky.

Commitment means showing up fully, focusing on the activity, and being willing to push yourself a little.

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Kindness – encouraging each other, using positive words, and celebrating the effort everyone puts in. A kind environment helps everyone feel confident to try new things.

Communication – sharing ideas clearly, asking questions, and giving helpful feedback.

Good communication helps the group work together and creates stronger dance ideas.

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Discussion questions: 1. What other values do you think are important when we are creating and moving together?

2. Are there any values on the list—Safety, Respect, Commitment, Kindness, Communication—that you would change, add to, or think about differently?

3. Can you think of other ways we can make our dance space safe, welcoming, and creative for everyone?

Our Class Values

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ONE SONG Creative and Composition Task Exploring the Stimulus By the end of this improvisation movement and composition task, you will be able to: • Develop and refine your movement skills.

• Generate original movement ideas.

• Express thoughts, feelings, and emotions through dance.

• Work collaboratively and creatively with others.

• Reflect on your own experiences and the creative process.

Part A: Improvisation movement task – Individual and Collective In ONE SONG, choreographer Raghav Handa explores how contemporary dance is constantly changing, with ideas from the past influencing what comes next. The work brings together different movement influences, including Indian Kathak and contemporary dance, alongside inspiration from the energy, histories and diverse communities of Sydney.

In this improvisation, explore how individual movement can emerge from, respond to, and influence a collective. Consider a city as a gathering of people, where different rhythms, movements and experiences exist alongside one another.

Begin moving together as a group.

Respond to the movement and energy of the dancers around you, allowing what you see and experience to influence your improvisation.

As you move, have your teacher prompt each of the below so you can explore the movements: • Pulse – establish a repeated rhythm and allow it to travel through different parts of your body.

• Connection – respond to other dancers through proximity, direction, rhythm and movement.

• Repetition – repeat a movement or gesture, allowing it to gradually develop or transform.

• Levels – shift between high, middle and low levels while maintaining the energy of the group.

• Accents – introduce sudden changes in emphasis, direction or dynamics.

• Stillness – become still while movement continues around you.

• Contrast – move against the rhythm, direction or energy established by the group.

• Breaking away – separate from the collective and explore an individual movement response.

• Re-entry – return to the group and immediately respond to its movement and energy.

• Reaction – notice an unexpected choice made by another dancer and allow it to influence your own movement.

Continue shifting between moments of connection and individuality, unison and contrast, stillness and movement.

Consider: How can the movement of one person influence a group? How might these changing relationships reflect the different people, histories and influences that come together in ONE SONG?

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ONE SONG Creative and Composition Task Exploring the Stimulus Part B: Composition Task In ONE SONG, Raghav Handa brings together different movement influences, histories and experiences to explore how contemporary dance can evolve and change. The work considers how ideas from the past can be transformed by a new generation of artists.

Using movement you discovered in the Individual and Collective Improvisation Task, work in a small group (3-6 people) to create a short dance sequence that explores the relationship between the individual and the collective.

Reflection questions: 1. How did movement from your improvisation influence your final composition?

2. How did your group show the relationship between the individual and the collective?

3. Which elements of dance did you manipulate to develop and transform your movement ideas?

4. How did repetition, contrast, stillness or changes in rhythm affect the meaning or energy of your composition?

5. How did your movement change as ideas were shared between dancers?

6. How does your composition connect to the ideas of history, influence and change explored in ONE SONG?

Select your movement Each person chooses one movement or gesture from the improvisation that you found interesting.

Teach your movement to the rest of the group.

Join your movements together to create a short movement phrase.

Develop your movement Experiment with changing and developing your phrase.

You could: • repeat a movement or gesture • change its level, direction, size or pathway • change the rhythm, accent or dynamics • perform movements in unison • use canon or different timings • add a moment of stillness • perform contrasting movements at the same time.

Leader and repetition Choose one dancer to be the leader. The teacher can lead this section first as an example.

The leader chooses one movement or gesture from the group phrase and performs it. The rest of the group repeats the movement.

Try changing who leads. Each dancer can take a turn leading a movement while the rest of the group follows, repeats or changes the movement.

Think about how a movement can be passed between dancers and changed, just as ideas and influences can be passed from one generation of artists to another.

7. Vicki Van Hout’s poem asks, “But where-to do we move onwards towards?” How did your composition respond to this idea of moving forward?

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Individual and collective Develop a section where one dancer breaks away from the group.

The individual might change their rhythm, direction, level or movement quality while the group continues its established movement.

Decide how the group responds. Do they follow, copy, resist, ignore or become influenced by the individual?

Experiment with allowing the individual to return to the group. When they return, consider whether the group movement remains the same or has changed because of their influence.

Structure your composition Arrange your movement explorations into a short composition with a clear beginning, development and ending.

Your composition should include: • a moment of collective movement • a contrasting individual movement • repetition and development of a movement idea • changes in rhythm, dynamics and level • a moment of stillness or pause • a clear change in the relationship between the individual and the group

Extension Develop your composition further by exploring how movement can change and evolve over time.

Choose one movement idea from your composition and transform it as it passes between dancers. Each dancer should change one aspect of the movement before passing it on.

You could change: • space – level, direction, size or pathway • time – speed, rhythm, duration or accent • dynamics – movement quality, weight or energy • relationships – proximity, formation, unison, canon or contrast.

By the time the movement reaches the final dancer, it should have clearly changed from the original.

Now experiment with bringing the original and transformed versions together. Consider how the past and present can exist alongside each other and how an existing movement idea can become the starting point for something new.

Think about how this process connects to ONE SONG and Raghav Handa’s exploration of different movement influences, histories and the continuing evolution of contemporary dance.

As you create, consider the question posed at the end of Vicki Van Hout’s An Ode to Sydney Dance: “But where-to do we move onwards towards?”

How can your composition show movement ideas being shared, challenged and transformed to create something new?

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Current Appreciation Tasks

Reflection Task Suggested questions for discussion Write down your initial thoughts after watching Current and discuss.

You may wish to brainstorm this as a group.

Use the questions below to assist with articulating your thoughts and ideas: • What sections, movements or pieces did you like or dislike, and why? Can you describe these using the elements of dance?

• What feelings or emotions did you experience when watching the works? What specifically about the performance made you feel this way?

• What did each of the works make you think about?

• What is your interpretation of the works?

Compare and contrast your interpretation of Current with someone else’s.

• Did you observe any choreographic tools used throughout the work such as symmetrical and asymmetrical movements, unison, repetition, canon, group formations and changes of directions and levels? How did these impact on your interpretation of the work?

• What production elements did you see?

(Lighting, staging and set design) • How did the different aspects (movement, music, set, lighting and costumes) impact your experience?

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Compare and Contrast Task This dance appreciation task involves analysing and discussing the Current performance.

Compare and contrast two of the three of the works to allow for a deeper analysis.

This task will highlight the similarities and differences in various aspects such as movement quality, themes, costumes, staging and overall impact.

After observing your two chosen works, document the features of each work individually, using appropriate dance terminology to describe movement, style, and communication of ideas before bringing the two works together to identify shared or divergent characteristics.

Part A: Use the tables below to compare and contrast two works from the Current performance Movement Work Number One

Work Number Two

Qualities: Dynamics (such as sharp, sustained, sudden, lyrical), speed and energy of the work

Elements: Use of space (pathways, levels), body shapes and specific movements (locomotor and non-locomotor)

Style: The overall technique and stylistic feature of each dance

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Current Appreciation Task

Themes and Concepts Work Number One

Work Number Two

Work Number One

Work Number Two

Work Number One

Work Number Two

Interpretation: How did you interpret the ideas, stories or messages that each work communicates

Production Elements

Costumes: Style, colour and how they contribute to the overall aesthetic or meaning

Props and Set: Were there any objects or staging used and what do you think their purpose was.

Lighting and Sound: How these elements enhance the mood and narrative.

Choreographic Intention

Intention: How effectively were each of the choreographer’s intentions for their work communicated throughout the choreography.

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Part B: Using your table on pages 35- 36, write an essay or speech evaluating the performance of Current.

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Technique and Expression: Analyse the technical skills of the dancers and how their emotions and expression are conveyed. Are they different or the same in both works?

Your essay or speech must include the following elements and use descriptive words in your explanations

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Relationships: Consider how the dancers interact with each other and the stage.

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Elements: Analyse how all the different elements (movement, music and design) work together to create the overall piece.

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First Impression

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Description

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Interpretation

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Compare and contrast of the works

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Evaluation (informed criticism)

Teaching notes for an essay or speech 1. Describe – what did you see and hear • Dancers and movement: Note the number of dancers in both works, their costumes and the style of the movement. Is the movement quality different in each of the works? What makes the movement and choreography different?

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Choreography and structure: Observe the patterns, shapes, formations and overall structure of both works.

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Music and sound: Describe the music and the use of sound and discuss how it relates to both works.

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Visuals: Detail the different sets, props and/ or lighting design and their visual impact on the Current performance.

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Atmosphere: Comment on the overall environment and atmosphere the performance created.

3. Compare and contrast of the works When comparing and contrasting both works, look at both the similarities and differences between them. This might include the style of dance, the choreographer’s intent, the movement qualities, use of space, music, costumes, and themes. Comparing helps to identify what the works share, while contrasting highlights how they are unique. This process deepens your understanding of both the works and shows how different artistic choices create meaning.

4. Evaluate – how effective was the performance to you • Artistic Merit: Justify your opinion on the artistic quality of both the works.

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Emotional Impact: Explain how the Current performance made you feel and impression it left.

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Effectiveness: Evaluate if the dancers, choreography and design successfully convey the message or themes in both works.

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Personal Perspective: Reflect on the overall experience and what you learned or took away from the Current performance.

2. Analyse – what does it mean • Interpretation: Try to understand what story or meaning the choreography and movement suggest in both works.

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Extension: Dance Appreciation Task – Performance Review For this task, you will write a review of Current.

What to include in your review

A dance review is more than a description of what happened on stage. It communicates your response to a performance and examines how movement, choreography, performance and production elements work together to communicate ideas and create meaning for an audience.

First impressions Begin by introducing the works and describing your initial response. What captured your attention? Was there a particular movement, image, sound or moment that stayed with you?

Using your completed Reflection Task or Compare and Contrast Table, your observations from the performance and what you have explored throughout this resource, write a review of the Current Performance.

In your review, you will: • Describe what you saw and heard, using clear and descriptive language to identify important moments from each work.

• Analyse how movement, choreographic choices, music/sound, costumes, lighting and other production elements were used.

• Interpret the ideas, themes, emotions or meanings you believe were communicated through these artistic choices.

• Evaluate how effectively the works communicated its ideas and created an impact on you as an audience member.

• Your review should express your own point of view while demonstrating an informed understanding of Current. There is no single correct response to a dance performance.

What is important is that you explain your ideas, justify your opinions and support them with specific examples from the works.

Movement and choreography Consider how movement is used in each work.

Describe the movement qualities, use of space, formations, patterns, relationships between dancers and choreographic structures. How are the choreographic approaches similar or different?

Meaning and interpretation What ideas, themes or meanings did you identify? Explain how particular movement or choreographic choices contributed to your interpretation.

Music, sound and production elements Consider how music/sound, costume, lighting, set and other production elements contributed to each work. How did these elements interact with the movement and influence the atmosphere or meaning?

Evaluation Consider the effectiveness and artistic impact of each work. Which choreographic or production choices were particularly effective? How did the dancers’ performance contribute to the work?

What impact did each work have on you as an audience member?

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Develop your response

Challenge

As you write, use the following process to develop your ideas:

Finish your response by considering:

Observe → Describe → Analyse → Interpret → Evaluate Ask yourself: What did I see or hear? → How was it created? → What might it communicate? → What effect did it have? → Why was it effective?

What do the three works reveal about the possibilities of contemporary dance as an artform?

Support your perspective with evidence from the works. Remember that different audience members may interpret a work differently, so the strength of your response comes from how clearly you explain and justify your ideas.

Remember, an informed review does not simply state whether you liked or disliked a work. It explains why you formed that opinion and uses evidence from the performance to support your response.

Extension Task: The Critic’s Perspective Take your dance review further by developing a critical perspective on the Current performance.

Consider the following statement: Contemporary dance can communicate ideas in many different ways.

Respond to this statement by considering how each choreographer uses movement and other artistic choices to create meaning.

In your response: • identify what you believe is the most significant idea or theme communicated in each work • select specific moments from each work as evidence • analyse how movement and choreographic choices communicate these ideas • consider how music, sound, lighting, costume and other production elements strengthen or challenge your interpretation • compare the different approaches taken in the three works.

• evaluate which artistic choices you found most effective and explain why.

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Current has been supported by the Carla Zampatti Commissioning Fund donors Photos by Pedro Grieg, Daniel Boud, Jez Smith, Toby Burrows