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Sydney Dance Company is based at Walsh Bay Arts Precinct, Sydney. Our studios are situated on the lands and over the waters of the Gadigal.

We recognise their continuing connection to the land and waters and thank them for protecting this coastline and its ecosystems since time immemorial. We pay our respects to elders past and present, and extend that respect to all First Nations people.

40 Years at the Wharf:

The Next Steps

2026 marks 40 extraordinary years since Sydney Dance Company made its home on the Wharf. To celebrate this milestone, we have launched The Next Steps, a campaign to secure the future of the dancers, choreographers, teachers and students who make this Company who we are. Performances like tonight’s are made possible by the generosity of people who love this artform. Be one of them.

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Welcome

With excitement we welcome you to the Sydney Opera House for Engine, the first season in our 2026 Sydney Program. Engine is an electric triple bill featuring two premieres – Rafael Bonachela’s Sydney premiere of The Journey Itself Is Home, and Fran Diaz’s Australian premiere of The Mass Ornament. It is also a pleasure to welcome Melanie Lane’s Love Lock to the Sydney Opera House stage, after sold out shows from Paris to Slovenia, and from Brisbane to Melbourne.

At the core of our Company is creating and presenting new work, inspiring future generations of dancers and audiences, and extending our reach across Australia and the globe. Before our Sydney season, the Ensemble kicked off the 2026 national tour. We have so far performed in Melbourne, Orange and Tamworth with additional stops in Western Australia, Northern Territory and New South Wales over the next few months. We are deeply proud to share Sydney Dance Company work on the national and global stage, and even prouder to be in Sydney presenting bold new work from three inspirational choreographers to our home audience.

None of this would be possible without the passionate commitment of our partners, supporters and those who have invested in our vision. I would like to recognise the ongoing support of the Australian Government delivered through Creative Australia and the NSW Government through Create NSW. In addition, we acknowledge the valued support of the Clegg Foundation, Instituto Cervantes along with the Carla Zampatti Commissioning Fund, its donors, and our season and tour presenting partner, The Art House Wyong.

Thank you to everyone at Sydney Dance Company, on stage and behind the scenes, for their dedication, curiosity and ongoing collaboration. I would like to also acknowledge and thank the Sydney Dance Company Board for their leadership and guidance. Every member of Sydney Dance Company plays an important role in bringing these extraordinary works before our audiences here, across Australia and as we tour internationally.

Please join us in celebrating Engine, a truly special season; a triple bill that brings together three artists with very different perspectives to collaborate and create with our wonderful Ensemble.

Lou Oppenheim Executive Director

A Note About Engine

What a delight it is to be back at the Sydney Opera House to perform Engine.

This triple bill is all about intensity - from the emotional charge of love songs, a meditation on movement and presence, and a work that has thirteen minutes of non-stop, high-energy choreography, executed with mathematical precision.

First we’re bringing back Melanie Lane’s Love Lock. It’s a feast for the senses, full of folklore, full of love, with stunning costumes by Akira Isogawa and music by Clark. We’ve performed it to sold-out audiences in Europe – and can’t wait to share it again with Sydney.

We’re introducing Fran Diaz, a Berlin based Spanish choreographer who is fast becoming a force on the international stage. His work The Mass Ornament is physical, sculptural and explosive, with non-stop action and this is the first time our Sydney audiences get to see his work.

Finally I’m so excited to share my new work, The Journey Itself Is Home, with music by my dear friend and long-time collaborator, Grammy Award-winning Bryce Dessner. Working with Bryce always sparks something new in me, and I’m thrilled for you to see our new project.

Thank you to the Ensemble for their commitment and creativity. These works hum with excitement, passion, precision and energy because of the work they do. Thank you to the amazing collaborators and creative teams for each work, as well as the many artists and crew who have contributed to bringing Engine to life.

Sharing these inspiring works with audiences is only possible with the ongoing commitment of our Board, partners and supporters. I truly thank you for allowing us to keep doing what we love every single day. I particularly thank the Carla Zampatti Commissioning fund donors, The Hessisches Staatsballet, and our Commissioning Partner, Orsolina28 Art Foundation.

I cannot wait for you to experience the jolt of energy and life that is, Engine.

Rafael Bonachela Artistic Director

Love

The

Interval

The Journey Itself is Home

Photo: Wendell Teodoro

Love Lock

Choreographer Melanie Lane

Composer Clark

Set and Lighting Damien Cooper

Designer

Costume Designer Akira Isogawa

Originally supported as part of Sydney Dance Company’s TwoFold by Visionary Patron, the Clegg Foundation.

About Melanie Lane

Melanie is an Australian choreographer and performer of Indonesian-Anglo heritage working between Naarm (Melbourne) and Ngunnawal/Ngambri country (Canberra). She is one of Australia’s leading choreographic voices with commissions from Dance North, Chunky Move, Sydney Dance Company, Australasian Dance Collective, Schauspiel Leipzig, Dance Theatre Heidelberg, Tanztheater Braunschweig, National Dance Company of Wales and West Australian Ballet (among others). Melanie won the prestigious Keir Choreographic Award in 2018 and the 2017 Leipziger Bewegungskunstpreis in Germany. Lane has been nominated for multiple Green Room and Helpmann awards as both a choreographer and a dancer including the Shirley McKechnie award for choreography.

Her collaborative work includes projects with Marrugeku, UK music producer Clark, video artists Amos Gebhardt and Leyla Stevens, theatre maker Adena Jacobs and visual artists Martin Böttger, Ash Keating and Bridie Lunney. These works have spanned across international festivals, theatres and galleries.

Her choreographic work for theatre and opera includes English National Opera’s Salome (London, 2018), Burgtheater’s Trojan Women (Vienna, 2022) and Nosferatu (Vienna, 2024) and Schauspiel Köln’s Die Orestie (Germany 2026) directed by Adena Jacobs.

As an Independent artist Lane’s ambitious creations work across the visual arts, music and film. Her choreography interrogates physical and cultural histories to explore current social mythologies and extrapolates these into surreal futures that are confounded, broken and reconfigured. These independent works have been presented globally at festivals and theatres such as Rising Festival, AsiaTOPA, NGV, Now or Never, HAU Berlin, Tanz im August,

Southbank Centre London, Indonesian Dance Festival, Carriageworks, Arts House and Sydney Opera House. Drawing on her European and Indonesian heritage Lane moves between cultural landscapes and influences. Melanie engages regularly across projects in Indonesia, UK and Germany as choreographer, collaborator, performer and mentor.

Melanie choreographed the 2015 and 2017 live shows for UK electronic musician Clark (Warp records), performing at over 30 international venues including Moma PS1 New York, Villette Sonique Paris, Funkhaus Berlin and Sonar Festivals in Barcelona/ Istanbul.

As a mentor and artistic capacity building facilitator, Melanie shares creative practices with young artists and artists with intellectual disability (QL2, e.motion21, The Chameleon Collective).

In 2022, Melanie was Artist in Residence for Digital Innovation at the University of Canberra x Belco Arts, transposing

choreographic languages through robotics and animation. She was the 2023/24 Choreographer in Residence at Chunky Move, Resident Artist at The Substation Melbourne and Associate artist at QL2 Canberra. She was the 2015 Resident Director at Lucy Guerin Inc and is a Creative Australia and Sidney Myer Fellow. Melanie is Chair of the Board at Dancehouse, Melbourne.

In 2024, Melanie launched her project Corps Conspirators. This initiative, supported by Creative Victoria and led by Melanie Lane, is a project exploring collaborative choreographic practices, multi-artform experimentation and transcultural experience.

Note

Love Lock is a work that I began dreaming about during my travels, listening to music on my headphones, getting swept up by a medley of lyrics and melodies conjured by iconic love songs from both past and present. I was fascinated by the mantra that exists across generations, a constant echo of the intoxicating spell that we have all experienced in various ways.

The invitation to work with the entire ensemble of artists at SDC is always an exciting opportunity that offers so much potential, to be able to harness the powerful energy of a larger group of dancers. It made me think a lot about social dances, folk dances and community dances that celebrate our physical connection to each other. Through our bodies and voices, these rituals are passed through generations, much like the love songs that are continuously re-invented throughout time.

My work often creates fictional worlds to speak about our realities. Love Lock draws from song riffs and lyrics to imagine a speculative folk dance of the future, a ritual that summons a collective energy and that

dreams into the complex and often giddy realms of love. Through the deconstruction of love songs, these iconic and catchy riffs are what embed Love Lock with its engine for connection and collective dreaming, and that insists on a dance that celebrates our hearts.

It has been a joy creating Love Lock with the artists of Sydney Dance Company and with long time collaborators Clark (music), Akira Isogawa (costume) and Damien Cooper (set and lighting). To see the work pass through different dancers and perform in new places is a thrill to witness how it evolves. I’m grateful for the generosity and artistry of the dancers and creative team, and for the invitation from Rafael whose endless support has truly been a gift.

Clark Composer

Since 2001, Clark has sculpted sound into a myriad of diverse forms. His two decades at Warp Records witnessed irradiated and ecstatic experiments in electronica, techno and rave, with equally colourful adventures in ambient, classical scores and cathartic lyrics for Deutsche Grammophon and his own Throttle Records. From St Albans, UK origins with frost encrusted vignettes on Clarence Park to unleashing kaleidoscopic live sets on the world stage, there’s neither a dull nor expected moment in the immersive musical universe Clark has constructed so far.

But how does one even shift from, say, folk-driven sound collage on albums like Iradelphic to intense, malleable jungle tracks in live shows? Clark’s leaps from crushingly industrial to subtly acoustic are framed by his wide-reaching influences and no limits approach to crafting such intricate soundscapes. Each album contains a unique thumbprint and dedicated exploration of a certain palette, manifested in flourishing melody, shimmering analog and digital texture, reshaped found sound and playful timbres created from scratch.

Twenty years on from his debut, Clark still has a voracious desire to challenge himself: his vocals are foregrounded on 2023’s Thom Yorke mentored Sus Dog, yet another elastic instrument in his repertoire. Whether learning drums for organic, eviscerating percussion on Body Riddle, or voicing his refreshingly singular songwriting on Sus Dog, Clark underlines the physicality of his everchanging sound.

Note

Since Melanie and I first started talking about the score for Love Lock, it’s gone through many iterations. Although it’s not 310 bpm and composed with trance synths, that was the initial idea. It’s ended up in quite a different place - an ever mutating, at times dense collage of recorded percussion/ cello/synthesisers/voices/flutes.

I like working on dance scores with Melanie, as you get to do things you would never normally consider for a solo record or a film score. Her choreography always surprises me. In Love Lock it reaches quite an ecstatic high. I wanted the music to reflect that.

I burrowed into a kind of controlled mania, exploring unusual microtonal shifts with what I hear as hooky ear worms, twists and turns. It’s been great being strict with the 20 minutes duration. I haven’t realised this until writing about it, but my self-pep talk has basically been ‘fill that 20-minute canvas with mad sounds but keep it coherent, with enough movement and pathos to keep it engaging’.

My work with Mel is always led by intuition, we get all the conceptual stuff out of the way early on and it soon becomes ‘does this feel right?’ If it does, I don’t tend to question it.

Damien Cooper Lighting Designer

Damien Cooper works internationally across theatre, opera and dance. Damien’s credits for Sydney Dance Company include Continuum, Love Lock, Somos, Momenta, Ascent, Resound, ab [intra], Impermanence, Cinco, Ocho, Grand, Air and Other Invisible Forces and Orb. Other dance credits include Baleen for Adelaide & Brisbane Festivals, State, Incandescence for Western Australian Ballet, Illume, Mathinna, Of Earth and Sky for Bangarra, IDK, You Animal You, for Force Majeure, The Narrative of Nothing, Murphy, Firebird, Romeo & Juliet and Swan Lake for Australian Ballet, Giselle for Universal Ballet, Birdbrain, Supernature, Habitus and Be Your Self for Australian Dance Theatre, The Frock for Ten Days on the Island Festival, Affinity for Tas Dance, Mortal Engine for Chunky Move and Grey Rhino for Performing Lines. Other theatre credits include Counting & Cracking for Edinburgh International Festival/Belvoir, The Weekend, Into The Woods, 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 for Belvoir; The River; The Talented Mister Ripley; On the Beach, White Pearl, 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 for Sydney Theatre Company; Macbeth (Twice) and The Tempest for Bell Shakespeare; The Ring Cycle, Der Ring des Nibelungen, Peter Grimes, Aida, Alcina, The Magic Flute and Cosi Fan Tutte for Opera Australia; A Midsummer Nights Dream for Houston Grand Opera, Canadian Opera, Lyric Opera Chicago; and The Magic Flute for Lyric Opera Chicago.

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

Note

I was thrilled to return to the stage with Melanie and Chris. Also Akira who I first worked with at Sydney Dance Company in 1999 on Air and Other Invisible Forces

The set and lighting design for Love Lock creates a future tense space. Electronic signals connect, communicate. The lights penetrate the dance space, communicating with the other lights, interacting with the dancers. Pods of energy, incubating the next generation of future folk dance. Enjoy!

Akira Isogawa Costume Designer

Akira Isogawa is one of Australia’s most celebrated and critically acclaimed designers.

Born in Kyoto Japan, Akira moved to Sydney in 1986 studying fashion design at the Sydney Institute of Technology.

Akira is renowned for his contemporary aesthetic, drawing inspiration from traditional Japanese design.

Debuting in 1996 at Australian Fashion Week Akira continues to present his collections to international embrace.

Akira’s powerful creative force has seen him collaborate across multiple platforms including designing costumes for the Australian Ballet and Sydney Dance Company and designing for Blunt Umbrellas and Designer Rugs, to name a few.

Akira’s work has been exhibited in institutions and galleries worldwide including the NGV, MAAS, V&A Museum London and Kimono: Kyoto to Catwalk.

Note

The costume design explores themes of ritual and collective identity. Through deconstruction and reconstruction, archival garments are reimagined in new forms while retaining a sense of memory. Traditional craft is retained while contemporary forms establish a distinct visual language.

Costumes sketches.

Photo: Pedro Greig

Photo: Wendell Teodoro

The Mass Ornament

Choreographer, Set & Costume Designer

Fran Diaz

Choreographic Assistant Keren Leiman

Composer Henryk Górecki

Additional Composition / Sound Designer Tom Foskett-Barnes

Lighting Designer Tanja Rühl

Intimacy Coordinator Chloë Dallimore AM

Fran Diaz’s The Mass Ornament is generously supported by Sydney Dance Company’s Visionary Patron, the Clegg Foundation and Sydney Season Partner, Instituto Cervantes. The Mass Ornament was commissioned by Hessisches Staatsballet and is performed in Australia with its kind permission.

About Fran Diaz

Fran Diaz is a Spanish choreographer based in Berlin. His choreographic practice deals with themes related to collectivity, often focusing on how interpersonal dynamics are shaped by institutional frameworks and systems of power. Rather than treating collectivity as a harmonious concept, Diaz examines its contradictions and structural complexities, exploring how experiences of belonging, resistance, and desire emerge through the organization of space, structure and social systems.

His choreographic language stems from collaboration and from a conscious rejection of the codes and movement hierarchies inherited from his classical and later contemporary dance training. He is interested in virtuosity not as a showcase of impressive physical feats, but as the result of shaping mundane movement into intricate compositions marked by precision, a sharp and unexpected musicality, and a certain emotional resonance.

In 2020, his choreography Toothpicks won third prize at the International Choreography Competition in Hannover, and in 2021 he was a finalist at the International Choreography Competition in Copenhagen with I’ll Do the Talking. In 2023, he premiered The Habit for the Bavarian State Ballet, alongside two independent works, Born by the Sea and Scheme, the latter exploring the challenges of structural change by examining complaint processes within dance institutions.

Diaz was selected as one of Aerowaves’ Twenty24 Artists for Born by the Sea, and later premiered The Mass Ornament, a commission for 13 dancers at Hessisches Staatsballett in Wiesbaden, Germany. In 2025, he was invited to create for the New York Choreographic Institute, and in 2026 was selected for the Joffrey Ballet’s Winning Works programme in Chicago, where he created a new work for the Joffrey Studio Company.

Recent works include Eurydice, a full-length work for Leipzig Ballet, a restaging of The Mass Ornament for Sydney Dance Company at the Sydney Opera House, and a new creation for (LA) HORDE / Ballet National de Marseille, premiering in December 2026.

A Note from the Choreographer

The Mass Ornament was inspired by Siegfried Kracauer’s essay of the same name (1927), in which he analyses popular entertainment, such as the Tiller Girls’ synchronised dance routines, as a reflection of the capitalist, rationalised structures of modern society.

I was fascinated by the idea of recreating a human “mass ornament” that would reference the qualities of the Tiller Girls— precision, repetition, and geometric order— while placing them within a contemporary neoliberal context, in which people are sold the idea that they are radically free, yet their actions are shaped by economic and technological systems that dictate how individuality is performed.

What interested me most was not simply referencing the Tiller Girls, but questioning what might exist beneath the intricate choreographic structures they embodied. Can emotional depth still shine through? Can we, as spectators, be aware of both the whole and the part?

What emerged was not a loss of personality but an intricate system of care, awareness, and collaboration. I realised that collective precision does not erase the individual; it depends on connection, trust, and interdependence. In that sense, the piece challenges The Mass Ornament, revealing a deeply human network instead of an impersonal machine.

The Mass Ornament was the first work I created for a large ensemble and marked an important turning point in my career, opening doors internationally and allowing me to create in places I could only have dreamed of.

I am incredibly grateful to Keren Leiman, my friend and choreographic assistant, for accompanying me through both the creation and restaging processes, and for always being a source of inspiration, not only to me but also to the dancers. To Tom Foskett-Barnes, for creating a sound design that stretched the Górecki composition into our contemporary fabric, and to Tanja Rühl, for beautifully balancing clinical restraint and theatrical atmosphere with her lighting design.

Thank you to Rafael Bonachela for giving me the chance to restage the piece with the incredible dancers of Sydney Dance Company. They have been an absolute joy to work with, and I’m thrilled for everyone to experience the energy, precision, and emotional nuance they bring to the work.

Keren Leiman Choreographic Assistant

Keren is a passionate artist and has been freelance since 2022. Alongside her ongoing and accomplished performance work she assists and stages works for trail blazing choreographers including Fran Diaz and Lilit Hakobyan. The works that she has been instrumental in the making of, have been staged at notable global places of dance including, Theater Basel, Ballet National de Marseille and Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden. Born in Zimbabwe, Keren grew up in Australia on the Sunshine Coast. She moved to Switzerland to study dance at Basel Ballettschule and later joined Ballet Zurich as a junior member where she worked with Artistic Director, Christian Spuck. With a wish to pursue more contemporary work she became a part of Staatsoper Hannover and in 2018 was invited by Artistic Director, Paul Lightfoot to join Netherlands Dance Theater1. We’ve been so honoured to have her here at Sydney Dance Company – we’re so grateful that she has shared her gift with our Dancers, our Organisation, and our Audiences.

Note

As well as being close friends, Fran and I have worked together for many years now. I assisted him in the initial creation of The Mass Ornament in Wiesbaden and when he called to ask if I’d help him restage it in Sydney, I was beyond excited. As an Australian, this is the first time I’ve worked professionally in Australia, and it is also the first time I’ve restaged a piece on my own. I feel very grateful that Sydney Dance Company is where I’ve had the opportunity to do this. The professionalism and kindness shown by everyone here have made the experience an entirely positive one. I’ve been impressed every day by the talent of the artists, their willingness to keep learning from Fran and me, and their commitment to the work.

I am very proud of them, and it is a privilege to share their work with you.

Tom Foskett-Barnes Composition & Sound Designer

Tom Foskett-Barnes is a musician and composer based between Berlin and London, working across theatre, film, and live performance.

His work for stage has been presented at leading international venues including the Berliner Ensemble, Royal Court Theatre, Southbank Centre, and Berliner Festspiele. Credits include Das Archiv Der Der Träume and Das Schloss (Berliner Ensemble), Multiple Memberships (Ballhaus Ost / Berliner Festspiele), Bullring Techno Makout Jamz (Royal Court Theatre), Resurrection (A Bad Copy) (Ufer Studios), Sap (UK tour/ Roundabout), Work.txt (international tour), and Anna Bella Eema (Arcola Theatre).

His film work has screened at major international festivals including Sundance, the Berlinale, and the London Film Festival. Credits include the Academy Award–nominated Black Sheep and the Academy Award–longlisted Cashing Out, as well as the BBC3 comedy-drama Juice

As musical director and arranger, his work includes The Age of Consent, which premiered at Southbank Centre in 2024 and toured the UK in 2026, culminating at the Royal Festival Hall.

Tom undertook a Sound and Music Embedded_Innovate residency in 2016 and was selected for the Old Vic 12 the following year. He has received commissions from BBC Radio 3, the ICA, and Chisenhale Gallery. He will undertake a Britten Pears Arts residency in 2026 and has been selected for the Jette Parker Artist Programme, both in collaboration with Crispin Lord. He trained at the Royal College of Music and was the recipient of a BAFTA UK Scholarship.

Photo: Marco Alessi

Tanja Rühl Lighting Designer

Tanja is a freelance lighting designer and lighting supervisor.

She was born and resides in Germany. In 1999 she began her theatrical engineering apprenticeship at Frankfurt Opera House. After completion of the apprenticeship with distinction, Tanja joined Ballet Frankfurt under the artistic direction of William Forsythe in 2002 as Assistant to the Lighting Supervisor. She was then appointed Lighting Supervisor with the newly founded Forsythe Company in 2005. In 2006 she completed her Bachelor of Theatrical Engineering majoring in lighting. Since 2007 Tanja has been acting as the company’s lighting designer, mostly in cooperation with her mentor Forsythe as well as with her colleague in the company’s lighting department. Being a member of Forsythe Productions, Tanja acts as technical and design consultant, collaborating with ballet and dance companies in matters of Forsythe license works. Since 2014 she is working full time as freelance lighting designer, collaborating with choreographers, companies and artists throughout the world. As a designer she is still working with William Forsythe on his new works and on recreations of his existing repertoire.

Artist she has collaborated with, amongst others are: Aszure Barton, Anouk van Dijk, Martin Chaix, Deborah Hay, Prue Lang, Peter Chu, Juliano Nunes, Liliana Barros, Moritz Ostruschnjak, Iván Péréz, Craig Davidsonand Wubkje Kuindersma.

Apart from her work in theatres, Tanja is teaching lighting design and technical theatre workshops at Palucca University of Dance Dresden and University of Music and Performing Arts (HfMDK) Frankfurt, Germany. Productions she has created the original design for have been performed at Opéra Garnier, Paris; Teatro alla Scala, Milan; Brooklyn Academy of Music, New York; Tate Modern, London; Kawasaki Arts Center, Japan; Hamburgische Staatsoper, Germany and Taichung National Theater, Taiwan.

Note

The Mass Ornament by Fran Diaz marks our first collaboration, with hopefully many more to come. The piece was created within a very short amount of time in the beginning of 2025. With the lights, we very quickly picked up on the ever changing formations of dancers on stage, pushed forward and almost to exhaustion by the intense orchestral music. This drive, also became the drive for the lighting design. Because, aren’t we all driven by something?

Photo: Wendell Teodoro

The Journey Itself Is Home

Choreographer Rafael Bonachela

Composer Bryce Dessner

Lighting Designer Damien Cooper

Set and Costume Designer Kelsey Lee

Rafael Bonachela’s The Journey Itself Is Home is generously supported by Commissioning Partner, Orsolina28 Art Foundation.

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.

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.

A note from the Choreographer

The Journey Itself Is Home began with a journey.

During Sydney Dance Company’s European tour in 2025, I travelled to France to spend a few days with composer Bryce Dessner imagining what our next collaboration might become. We spent our time talking about life, music, books, poetry, art, nature, memory and the things that move us. Somewhere between those conversations, long walks and sunsets, a simple idea emerged: the journey itself is home.

Matsuo Bashō’s 17th-century travelogue

The Narrow Road to the Interior came up in our discussions a lot. It is a collection of writings and haiku born from a journey through landscapes both physical and spiritual. It felt connected to the landscape we found ourselves in, and the work we wished to create. In particular, Bashō’s reflections on solitude, impermanence and nature as a mirror of emotion became a powerful point of departure for us.

Soon after this trip, the work began to take shape through exploration of growth and decay; an ever-changing outpouring of emotion. I leant into choreography that felt open-hearted, emotional and presented new challenges.

What emerged was a work in four movements, filled with moments of longing, uncertainty, and ultimately connection. Under the reflected light of a setting (or rising) moon, the dancers grapple with solitude and togetherness. To me the work champions the tenacity required to coexist. To be fiercely unique and in the same breath totally unified. It feels like a prayer to the community of humanity.

The title also resonates deeply with where I find myself in life. It comes from a growing understanding that home is not necessarily a destination waiting to be reached. Rather, it is something we create through the act of living through the people we meet, the work we make, the experiences we share and the journeys we undertake together.

The journey itself is home.

Summer grasses all that’s left of soldier’s dreams.

- Matsuo Bashō

Photo: Wendell Teodoro

Bryce Dessner Composer

Bryce Dessner is a vital and rare force in new music. He has won Grammy Awards as a classical composer, with his band The National, and for his work in film music. He is regularly commissioned to write for the world’s leading ensembles, from Orchestre de Paris to London Philharmonic Orchestra and Los Angeles Philharmonic, and is in demand as composer in residence. Dessner is also a high-profile presence in film score composition, with credits including Greg Kwedar’s Sing Sing, Alejandro González Iñárritu’s The Revenant with the late Ryuichi Sakamoto and Fernando Meirelles’s The Two Popes.

The 2025/26 season includes composer residencies at Konzerthaus Berlin and with Czech Philharmonic; world premieres of his works at Carnegie Hall, Dublin’s National Concert Hall and Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris; plus the soundtrack release to new film Train Dreams (Netflix). Autumm 2025 also sees Dessner receive the Samuel Beckett Gold Medal from Trinity College Dublin, recognising his outstanding contribution to public discourse through the arts. Previous recipients include Joan Baez, Patti Smith and George Martin.

Dessner is Konzerthaus Berlin’s 202526 composer-in-residence, beginning in September with performances of his Piano Concerto by Alice Sara Ott - for whom Dessner wrote his concerto - and Joana Malwitz conducting the Konzerthausorchester. Throughout the year the residency will dive into Dessner’s catalogue with performances of his other concertos and a special ‘Bryce Dessner and Friends’ concert. Meanwhile Dessner’s composer residency with Czech Philharmonic begins in January 2026 with him performing his work St. Carolyn by the Sea with Jakub Hrusa conducting. The first of several world premieres takes place in November 2025, of Dessner’s Cello Concerto, Trembling Earth, with Anastasia Kobekina, National Symphony Orchestra Ireland and Andre de Ridder

at Dublin’s National Concert Hall, where Dessner was last season artist-in-residence. The work is co-commissioned by NCH Dublin, Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, and the BorlettiBuitoni Trust for the Philharmonia Orchestra.

Then in January 2026 SO Percussion gives the world premiere of a co-commission by Carnegie Hall, SO percussion and Cal Performances. Dessner’s new work sees the ensemble perform with the electric dulcimer-like ‘chord stick’ that he invented for them several years ago for Music for Wood and Strings, which has since been performed hundreds of times all over the world, including in Madrid, Amsterdam and Prague in autumn 2025. Meanwhile the world premiere of Bryce Dessner’s new work Love, Icebox - a conceptually staged programme with dramaturgy and electronics, based on excerpts of the letters from John Cage to Merce Cunningham – takes place at Paris’ Fondation Louis Vuitton in December 2025. Actress Isabelle Huppert and pianist Alice Sara Ott star in this unique work, which incorporates methods from

Cage’s own composing. Dessner’s creation is programmed in conjunction with the Fondation’s major retrospective of painter Gerhard Richter, upon whom John Cage was a significant influence.

Dessner’s notable presence in the world of film music continues this autumn with the release of the anticipated film, Train Dreams, directed by Clint Bentley, which received advance rave reviews (e.g. The Times, 5*) upon premiering at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. The score, which includes the title song Dessner co-wrote with Nick Cave, will be released in November 2025 at the time the film receives its worldwide premiere on Netflix.

In August 2024, Bryce Dessner released Solos (Sony Classical) which showcases his collection of solo instrument pieces in collaboration with some of the world’s leading musicians including Katia Labèque, Anastasia Kobekina, Pekka Kuusisto, Nadia Sirota, Colin Currie and Lavinia Meijer. Dessner’s recordings also include El Chan; St. Carolyn by the Sea (both on Deutsche Grammophon); Aheym, commissioned by Kronos Quartet; Tenebre, an album of his works for string orchestra recorded by Germany’s Ensemble Resonanz and which won a 2019 Opus Klassik award and a Diapason d’Or; When we are inhuman with Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy and Eighth Blackbird (2019) and Impermanence (2021) with Australian String Quartet and which won the Libera award.

Also active as a curator, Dessner is regularly requested to programme festivals and residencies around the world at venues such as at the Barbican, Philharmonie de Paris, Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie and Tonhalle Orchestra, Zurich, where during the 2023-24 season he was Creative Chair. Dessner co-curates the Irish festival, Sounds from a Safe Harbour.

Note

Photo: Wendell Teodoro

A note from Damien Cooper Lighting Designer

Matsuo Bashō - Wow! His poetic description of light and landscape.

…morning of the third moon, under a predawn haze, transparent moon barely visible

Then the moon rose, shining on the sea, day turned suddenly to night

What a thrill to take these words and to journey with Rafael, Bryce and Kelsey on the ride that is - THE JOURNEY IS HOME.

Enjoy!

Photo: Wendell Teodoro

Kelsey Lee Set and Costume Designer

Kelsey is a set, costume and lighting designer for theatre, dance and events. Previously for Sydney Dance Company she was the Set & Costume Designer for Somos, Spell and for the Australian Chamber Orchestra collaboration Silence & Rapture.

Other credits include Set Designer: Nothing; A Practical Guide To Self Defence (NTofP). Costume Designer: Switzerland (Ensemble Theatre). Co-production Designer & Lighting Designer: Destroy, She Said (Belvoir’s 25A). Set & Lighting Designer: An Ox Stand On My Tongue (Belvoir 25A); Jali (Griffin Lookout). Lighting, Set & Costume: Wilfred Gordon McDonald Partridge; There’s a Sea In My Bedroom (Australian Chamber Orchestra). Lighting Designer: Mutiara (Marrugeku); Gurr Era Op (Force Majeure); 4000 Miles, Purpose (Sydney Theatre Company); Destiny (Melbourne Theatre Company); Whitefella Yella Tree, Sex Magick, The Lewis Trilogy (Griffin Theatre Company), The Comedy Of Errors, Mackenzie (Bell Shakespeare), Big Girls Don’t Cry, Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time, Well Behaved Women, A Room of One’s Own (Belvoir St Theatre); Autotune (regroup), Life Is A Dream (Fervour), Tell Me On A Sunday (Hayes Theatre); Masterclass; The Memory of Water; A Letter For Molly; Killing Katie (Ensemble Theatre); Queen Fatima (NToP); Extinction of the Learned Response, Skyduck, Kasama Kita (Belvoir 25A); April Aardvark (ATYP); Sistren, Good Dog; If We Got Some More Cocaine I Could Show You How I Love You (Greendoor Theatre Company); Associate Lighting Designer: At What Cost?; Blue (Belvoir St Theatre); Cut The Sky (Marrugeku). Lighting, Set & Costume: Lulu: A Modern Sex Tragedy (NIDA).

Note

The very beginnings of designing The Journey Itself Is Home, started when I was invited into the initial ideas between Raf and Bryce. Raf shared that Bryce had been inspired by many things including breathtaking sunsets they had shared during their friendship

and the last collection of haiku’s by Matsuo Basho. Upon reading the haiku’s what I found was these beautiful poems rich in imagery. Imagery of the “red hot sun”, the “shining” moon, the mist rising from the fields, the hammering rain , “The River of Heaven”. There was not only rich imagery of nature, but also of life, the self, and mortality. There was this seamless duality between the two. Once I heard the music that Bryce had composed there was this extraordinary connection between what he had created and the themes and ideas of the poetry and what we were beginning to create. The floor had to be reflective and dark. I mused over circularity and how I could incorporate this idea of roundness. I inverted the images and designed a semi circular structure that looks like water, reflecting between the floor and itself. The lighting by Damien integral in shaping and carving these reflections. The costumes are shades of white and ivory to resemble purity, and lightness in darkness. Every time I watch the dancers perform this extraordinary choreography, to this extraordinary music, I am left with a profound feeling of hope and joy, and I hope that you are too.

Dancers

Mahalia Adamson

Born in Taree, NSW, Mahalia began her dance training at the age of three, studying a wide range of styles at Andrea Rowsell Academy of Dance. After discovering a particular passion for contemporary dance, Mahalia joined Sydney Dance Company’s Pre Professional Year through 2024 and 2025, where she received an Advanced Diploma in Professional Dance (Elite Performance). In 2025 she had the opportunity to perform in James Batchelor’s Sydney season of Resonance and collaborated with and performed works by Zee Zunnur, Emma Harrison, Thomas E.S Kelly, Cass Mortimer-Eipper and Rafael Bonachela’s Lux Tenebris Mahalia is excited to begin her professional career as a trainee with Sydney Dance Company in 2026.

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 2018-2019 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.

Finn Armstrong

Finn was born and raised on the Gold Coast, Queensland, starting his dance journey at 14. At 17 Finn moved to full-time practice at the Amanda Bollinger Dance Academy, completing a Certificate IV in Dance. During this time, he also danced in the Youth Ensemble of Australasian Dance Collective for two years. Aged 18 Finn moved to The Netherlands to study at Codarts Rotterdam. He spent two years at the university training and performing works by Cayetano Soto, Ton Simons, Evelien Jansen, and was part of the Talent on The Move Tour, where students travelled around the Netherlands. Through Codarts, Finn apprenticed at Danish Dance Theatre, led by Marina Mascarell. He spent the 2024/2025 season performing works by Marina Mascarell, Adam Linder, Renan Martins, and Fernando Melo and toured with the company around Denmark and Europe. He graduated from Codarts with a Bachelor of Fine Arts. Finn joined Sydney Dance Company in 2025, debuting in Continuum.

Dancers

Mathilda Ballantyne

Mathilda is an Australian-Chinese artist from Melbourne/Naarm, whose movement blends classical ballet with contemporary dance. A graduate of the Australian Ballet School, they received the Graeme Murphy Award for Excellence in Contemporary Dance. After completing a Graduate Diploma in Classical Ballet, Mathilda shifted focus to contemporary dance, joining PROJECTion Dance Company in 2020. In 2022, they became a core member of Scimm. Dance Company, performing in works such as Paracosm and Mechorstra. In 2024, they collaborated with emerging choreographers Vourneen Ni’cainin and Ronan Armstrong for Lucy Guerin’s Out of Bounds seasons. In 2025, Mathilda joined Sydney Dance Company, debuting in Rafael Bonachela’s Somos and continuing to explore new artistic boundaries.

Timmy Blankenship

From the US, 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 and Emma Portner. He continued at the prestigious University of Southern California’s Glorya Kaufman School of Dance, where he performed works by William Forsythe, Jiří Kylián, Merce Cunningham and Yin Yue. Timmy premiered his choreography at Dance Town Miami’s annual contemporary gala 2021 and debuted Intergenerational Traffic at the Trinity Laban School of Dance in London in 2023 in collaboration with composer Tom Bradbury and dancer Xavier Williams. Timmy performed with the Nederland’s Dans Theatre Summer Intensive in 2023 before moving to Australia for his debut with Sydney Dance Company, performing in New Breed

Caití Ellen Carpenter

Originally from the UK, Caití Ellen has spent the last eight years living and working in London. She trained at Rambert School under Amanda Britton, graduating in 2020 and immediately joining the third cohort of Rambert2. There she performed works by Sharon Eyal, Andrea Miller, Megan Lawson, Micaela Taylor, and was part of livestream creations with Benoit Swan Pouffer. In 2021 Caití Ellen joined the main company, working with choreographers including Alonzo King, Ben Duke, and Wim Vandekeybus, performing and touring internationally. In 2023 Caití Ellen began freelancing in London. She continued to work with independent dance artists and companies in the UK and Europe, as well as acting with The Royal Shakespeare Company. During this period she also trained as a yoga teacher and now loves to teach and share her practice.

Dancers

Mali Comlekci

With a Turkish background and born in Sydney, Mali has been dancing for as long as he can remember. He began formal dance lessons at the age of ten, outside of school hours as well as attending Newtown High School of the Performing Arts. After graduating in Year 12, he pursued full-time training at New Zealand School of Dance (NZSD). In those two years, Mali was invited to be a guest dancer, performing soloist roles with the Royal New Zealand Ballet Company in their 2016 season of Wizard of Oz and their 2017 triple bill Three By Ekman. After graduating from NZSD, Mali joined Queensland Ballet Company, performing various soloist and principal roles from 2018 – 2024. Mali joined Sydney Dance Company in 2025.

Ali Dib

Born and raised on Gadigal Land, Mohamad ‘Ali’ Dib, of Lebanese heritage, began dance training at age eight, attending Dorothy Cowie School of Dance and Brent Street Studios. Ali continued his passion for contemporary and classical performance, advancing his training at Algeria Studios under the mentorship and guidance of Hilary Kaplan and Archibald Mackenzie. In 2024 Ali won the Brisbane International Contemporary Dance Prix and in 2025 the Contemporary Dance Open. Through his multidisciplinary training, Ali studied at Newtown High School of the Performing Arts and completed his HSC in 2025. He has performed in works by Holly Doyle, Chloe Leong, Victor Zarallo, Davide Di Giovanni and other notable choreographers. He embarked on his professional dance career with Sydney Dance Company, at the end of 2025, debuting in Continuum

Jai Fauchon

Born in Sydney on Dharug Country, Jai moved to Chile in 2009 where he discovered his love of dance at the age of eight. After returning to Australia, he trained at Newtown High School of the Performing Arts and Van Loon Dance Academy. In 2020 Jai relocated to Melbourne to join The Australian Ballet School. During his training, he performed in a wide range of works and in early 2023, travelled to Switzerland to perform Goyo Montero’s Bold as part of the Prix de Lausanne Partner School Choreographic Project. He also joined The Australian Ballet’s National Tour in 2023 and 2024, performing works by George Balanchine, Lucas Jervies, and Paul Knobloch. In the School’s 60th Anniversary Gala, Jai premiered his first choreographic work created on his cohort. After graduating, Jai joined Queensland Ballet in 2025 as a Jette Parker Young Artist, performing in a diverse repertoire of classical and contemporary works. He is thrilled to be joining Sydney Dance Company in 2026.

Dancers

Sonrisa Hubbard

Sonrisa attended Denver School of the Arts before earning a merit scholarship to attend Boston Conservatory, where she performed works by Aszure Barton, Bill T. Jones, Andrew Skeels and more. Sonrisa has participated in international intensives, including those at Arts Umbrella, The Juilliard School, Complexions Contemporary Ballet, Dart Dance Company and Orsolina 28. She studied the repertoire of choreographers Crystal Pite, Sharon Eyal, Ohad Naharin, Jiri Pokorny, Jiri Kylian and more. She also performed in a guest artist performance at the Young Choreographers Festival in 2024. Sonrisa joined Sydney Dance Company in 2025 and made her debut with the Company in Somos

Morgan Hurrell

Born in Mudgee, NSW, Morgan began dancing aged two, studying at Dance Unlimited. At 17 her contemporary dance passion led to multiple offers for full-time placements, and she completed her Diploma of Dance at the National College of Dance in Newcastle. In 2021 Morgan moved to Sydney to undertake an Advanced Diploma of Dance with Sydney Dance Company’s PreProfessional Year, after which she was offered a Trainee contract with the Company. Morgan has performed work internationally and nationally by renowned choreographers including Rafael Bonachela, Ohad Naharin, Antony Hamilton, Melanie Lane, and Stephanie Lake. She has performed works such as Decadance, ab [intra], Impermanence, momenta, Forever & Ever, Love Lock, The Universe is Here, and I Am-Ness. Morgan has performed with global brands such as Cartier, extending her artistry into the commercial industries.

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, working with James O’Hara, Victoria (Tor) Colombus, Taiaroa Royal and Tanemahuta Gray. She performed works by Damien Jalet, Huang Yi, Sarah FosterSproull, Malia Johnston and Gabby Thomas. Ngaere represented the school in Tahiti at the Académie de Danse Annie FAYN fifth International Dance Festival and Singapore Ballet Academy’s 60th Anniversary Gala. From 2019 to 2023 Ngaere worked with The New Zealand Dance Company performing in works from Sean MacDonald, Nina Nawalowalo, Tom McCrory and Ross McCormack, Jo Lloyd, Stephanie Lake, Kim Jae Duk, Tor Colombus, Eddie Elliott and Xin Ji and Tupua Tigafua, as well as Mana Wahine by Ōkāreka Dance Company, working with Atamira Dance Company. In 2023 Ngaere was the recipient of the Bill Sheats Dance Award. Ngaere joined Sydney Dance Company in 2023, debuting in the tenth anniversary season of New Breed.

Dancers

Sophie Jones

Sophie grew up in Angourie, NSW and trained with Adele Lewis School of Dance. At age 14 she moved to Burleigh Heads, Queensland to begin full-time ballet training and further her studies with Prudence Bowen Atelier. She received a traineeship with the Joffrey Ballet in Chicago. Whilst in Chicago she worked with numerous choreographers and performed Études 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 PreProfessional Year in 2020 and 2021. She had the opportunity to perform works by Holly Doyle, Omer Backley-Astrachan, Jessica Goodfellow and Rafael Bonchela. Sophie joined Sydney Dance Company as a trainee in January 2022, supported by the David and Fee Hancock Foundation.

Naiara de Matos

Naiara 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, Konzert Theater Bern, Augsburg Ballet and Dance Company St Gallen. She has performed 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. She joined Sydney Dance Company in 2023.

Ryan Pearson

Ryan is of Biripi and Worimi descent on his mother’s side and Minang, Goreng and Balardung on his father’s side. From Taree, NSW, 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. At NAISDA, Ryan learnt from a number of renowned teachers and choreographers, attending a Professional Division Summer Intensive at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre in New York City. He joined Bangarra Dance Theatre in 2017, debuting in Bennelong, performing for seven years through Australia and internationally, 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. In 2023, Ryan presented his first choreographic work, 5 Minute Call as part of Dance Clan. He joined Sydney Dance Company in 2024.

Dancers

Piran Scott

Born in Mackay, QLD, Piran trained under Lynette Denny AM at Theatre Arts Mackay. He completed the Professional Year program with the Queensland Ballet, 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. Piran was 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, awarded Dancer of the Year 2022 in tanz magazine Europe. Piran has performed in classical and contemporary works by renowned choreographers such as Ohad Naharin, Alexander Ekman, Sharon Eyal, Johann Inger, Ivan Perez, Nils Christie, Thierry Malandain, Natalie Weir, Dimo Milev, Uwe Scholz, Mauro Astolfi, Francesca Frassinelli, Nadav Zelner, Martin Zimmerman and Alba Castillo. Piran joined Sydney Dance Company in 2023.

Sam Winkler

Sam decided to pursue a career in dance during his time at the Victorian Collage of the Arts Secondary School. This aspiration led to him competing in the Prix de Lausanne, the world’s biggest ballet competition. His performance in the competition awarded him a scholarship to the Hamburg Ballet School where he completed his dance training. He worked with the Hamburg Ballet during his time in the school but found his first full-time work in Tanzcompany Innsbruck under Enrique Gasa Valga. Sam worked in the company as a soloist for two years, performing a variety of works. Concluding these two years, he moved home to Australia to be closer to family, delighted to be working closer to the people he loves. Sam joined Sydney Dance Company in 2025.

Richard Cilli Director Ensemble and Repertoire

Richard Cilli brings together his experience as a dancer, rehearsal director and choreographer to support artistic excellence across Sydney Dance Company. In this role, he works closely with dancers, choreographers and creative teams to steward repertoire, nurture ensemble culture and support the ongoing development of artists working at the highest level.

As a performer, Richard has enjoyed an acclaimed career in Australia and internationally. He was awarded the Helpmann Award for Best Male Dancer in 2010 for his performance in Rafael Bonachela’s We Unfold, and was also the winner of The Australian Ballet’s 50th Anniversary Ballet Competition in 2012. Across his career he has interpreted works by an exceptional range of choreographers, including Rafael Bonachela, Lloyd Newson, Stephanie Lake, William Forsythe, Anouk van Dijk, Jacopo Godani, Lucy Guerin, Gideon Obarzanek, Alexander Ekman, Adam Linder, Emanuel Gat and Kenneth Kvarnström.

Beyond his tenure with Sydney Dance Company, he has performed with Rambert (UK), Chunky Move, Lucy Guerin Inc, Australasian Dance Collective, Dancenorth, and K. Kvarnström & Co (Sweden).

Born on Whadjuk Noongar Country (Perth), Richard trained at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts and Taipei National University of the Arts, and later completed studies in Arts and Cultural Management at Deakin University.

As a choreographer, Richard has created work for Sydney Dance Company and its Pre-Professional Year, The Australian Ballet, LINK Dance Company and WAAPA, as well as independent projects. In 2025, he created Throng for Sydney Dance Company’s Pre-Professional Year.

A certified Countertechnique teacher, he has taught extensively in Australia and internationally, including at Springboard Dance Montreal’s One Body, One Career intensive.

Alongside his artistic practice, Richard contributes to the sector through governance and mentorship. He currently serves on the Board of Quantum Leap, driven by his belief in the creative power of young people, sector sustainability and accessibility to dance in Australia.

Charmene Yap Rehearsal Associate

Charmene Yap is a multi award-winning dancer, rehearsal director, choreographer and movement director. She is a graduate of the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts and Purchase College, New York.

Charmene’s performing career spans some of Australia’s leading dance companies, including Sydney Dance Company, Chunky Move, Tasdance, Dancenorth, and Lucy Guerin Inc., as well as New York’s Armitage Gone! Dance Company. As an independent artist, she has worked with acclaimed choreographers such as Gideon Obarzanek, Lucy Guerin, Antony Hamilton and the late Tanja Liedtke. Her screen work includes performances in Del Kathryn Barton’s Red and Katie Noonan’s Quicksand

Joining Sydney Dance Company as a dancer in 2010, Charmene spent a decade performing the majority of works by Rafael Bonachela and other renowned choreographers, including William Forsythe, Alexander Ekman, Jacopo Godani, Emanuel Gat, Andonis Foniadakis, Stephanie Lake and Melanie Lane. She received multiple awards, including the Helpmann Award for Best Female Dancer in 2012 and 2014 and the Australian Dance Award in 2013.

As a choreographer, Charmene has created works for stage, film, music videos, and fashion. Her notable works include Grey Rhino, co-choreographed with Cass Mortimer Eipper for Sydney Festival 2022, as well as Do We and Drunk Tank Pink, performed by Sydney Dance Company and Perth’s Co3 Company. She was Assistant Choreographer for Gideon Obarzanek’s Us 50, celebrating Sydney Dance Company’s 50th anniversary. Her choreographic collaborations extend across disciplines,

including movement direction for Belvoir St Theatre, runway choreography for Bianca Spender, and site-specific works with visual artist Lauren Brincat.

In September 2019, Charmene was appointed Sydney Dance Company’s inaugural Rehearsal Associate, a role supported by the Nelson Meers Foundation and Sydney Dance Company’s Dancers Circle, working across the company’s artistic and education programs, mentoring and guiding the next generation of dancers.

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Staff

Board of Directors

Emma-Jane Newton (Chair)

Larissa Behrendt AO

Gitanjali Bhalla

Michael Dagostino

David Friedlander

Emma Gray

Andrew Hagger

Alexa Haslingden

Sandra McCullagh

Bianca Spender

International Patron

Dame Darcey Bussell DBE

Founding Patron Dancers’ Circle

Julian Knights AO

Ambassadors’ Council

Victoria Balnaves, Judy Crawford, Chum Darvall AM, Jaycen Fletcher, Mandy Foley, Rebekah Giles, Bradford Gorman, The Hon. Don Harwin, Samuel Joyce, Alexandra Knights, Skye Leckie OAM, Amelia Liveris, Jules Maxwell, Andrew Muston, Sarah Myer, Peter Reeve, Ruth Ritchie, Keinwen Shephard, Stephen Thatcher, Bee Wood, Adam Worling.

Management

Artistic Director

Rafael Bonachela

Executive Director

Lou Oppenheim

Executive Assistant

Amy Burrows

Director, Producing

Katy Green Loughrey

Senior Producer

Dominic Chang

Associate Producer - Ensemble

Kerry Thampapillai

Associate Producer - Wharf

Michael Sieders

Director Finance and Administration

Kate Di Mattina

Accountant

Melissa Sim

Payroll Assistant

Carina Mision

Director Training and Education

Polly Brett

Head of Open Programs & Learning

Samantha Dashwood

Dance Class Manager

Ramon Monteverde Doringo

Learning Manager

Justine Ocampo

Training Coordinator

Eugenie English

Head of Training

Linda Gamblin

Training Associate

Juliette Barton

Todd Sutherland

Learning Associate

Lexy Panetta

Pre-Professional Year

Program Manager

Omer Backley-Astrachan

Conditioning Studio Manager

Felicity McGee

Customer Experience and Venue Manager

Sue Neilsen

Customer Service Assistant

Ellie Cevik

Director Philanthropy and Partnerships

Fiona Crockett

Head of Philanthropy

Katharine Seymour

Philanthropy Manager

Lachlan Bell

Trusts and Foundations Manager

Madeleine White

Philanthropy Coordinator

Bianca Mulet

Technical

Company

Production

The Company

Company

Costumer

Erika

Our Supporters

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