Australia Dancing - Sydney Dance Company (1979

Sydney Dance Company (1979 - )

Gaica, Branco: Garth Welch and Paul Mercurio in 'After Venice', Sydney Dance Company, 1985

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Sydney Dance Company began life as the Dance Company (NSW). Originally a dance-in-education group, it was founded in 1965 by Suzanne Musitz (Davidson) under the name Ballet in a Nutshell and later Athletes and Dancers. By the 1970s it had become a full-time performing group with federal and state government support and was led by Musitz until 1974. In 1975 and 1976 the company was directed by Dutch-born choreographer and dancer Jaap Flier. Graeme Murphy was appointed artistic director of the company at the end of 1976. The name change to Sydney Dance Company took place in 1979.

Under Murphy and his associate director Janet Vernon, Sydney Dance Company has consolidated its position as a major Australian contemporary dance company. The company made its first overseas tour in 1980 when it travelled to Italy. A tour to the United States, England and Hong Kong followed in 1981. Since then Sydney Dance has undertaken over 25 international tours throughout the United States, Europe, South America, New Zealand and Asia. The company also tours nationally.

Under Murphy's directorship, Sydney Dance Company's repertoire was made up predominantly of original works by Murphy often with original Australian music and design. Highlights of the Murphy repertoire for Sydney Dance Company, and its predecessor the Dance Company (NSW) when under Murphy's direction, include Poppy (1978), the company's first full length work, Rumours (1978-1979), Sheherazade (1979), Viridian (1980), Daphnis and Chloe (1980), An Evening (1981), Homelands (1982), Some Rooms (1983), After Venice (1984), Boxes (1985), Nearly Beloved (1986), Shining (1986), Late Afternoon of a Faun (1987), Vast (1988), a Bicentennial project made in collaboration with the Queensland Ballet, West Australian Ballet and Australian Dance Theatre, Kraanerg (1988), Song of the Night (1989), Soft Bruising (1990), King Roger (1990), Bard Bits (1991), Piano Sonata (1992), Synergy with Synergy (1992), Beauty and the Beast (1993), The Protecting Veil (1993), Fornicon (1995), Berlin (1995), Free Radicals (1996), Salome (1998), Air and Other Invisible Forces (1999), Mythologia (2000), for the 2000 Sydney Olympic Arts Festival, Body of Work (2000), a retrospective program, Ellipse (2002), Shades of Gray (2004) based on the Oscar Wilde story of ageing as told through the character of Dorian Gray, and in 2005 Grand, which premiered at the Sydney Opera House on 28 May 2005 and which was dedicated to Murphy's mother who died in 2004. In May 2006 Murphy premiered The Director's Cut, a triple bill consisting of a revival of his early work, Glimpses, and two new works, Gossamer with choreography by Narelle Benjamin, and Cut in which Murphy draws on signature choreographic phrases to explore and recut. Murphy and Vernon's farewell tribute to Melbourne in 2007 was entitled Ever after Ever and comprised a new work Short Stories choreographed to Carl Vine's Anne Landa Preludes as well as a selection from Tivoli, Air and Other Invisible Forces, Ellipse and Berlin.

Since its inception Sydney Dance Company has also always presented the work of choreographers other than Murphy, both Australian and non-Australian, and has also staged choreographic workshop programs for which company members have created original works. Australians whose work has been presented by Sydney Dance Company include Graeme Watson, Paul Mercurio, Gideon Obarzanek, Stephen Baynes, Don Asker, Stephen Page, Kim Walker, Barry Moreland, Ian Spink and Garth Welch. Non Australians whose choreography has been staged by Sydney Dance Company include Louis Falco (Black and Blue in 1984), Ohad Naharin (Tabula Rasa in 1988 and Arbos in 1989), Ralph Lemon (Happy Trails in 1989), Douglas Wright (Gloria in 1993) and Stephen Petronio (Underland, a commissioned work for which the company received an Australian Dance Award for outstanding performance in 2003).

Murphy and Vernon resigned from their positions in July 2006, and in May 2007 it was announced that Tanja Liedtke would be the new artistic director. However on August 17, 2007, prior to taking up the appointment, Liedtke tragically died in an accident. The company was without an artistic director in 2008, when it presented three world premieres from guest choreographers Meryl Tankard (Inuk 2), Rafael Bonachela (360 Degrees), and Aszure Barton (Sid's Waltzing Masquerade).

In November 2008, Bonachela was announced as the incoming artistic director. His policy of presenting commissioned works alongside his own new and preexisting works was put in place. Early guests included Kenneth Kvarnstrom, Adam Linder, Jacopo Godani and Emanuel Gat . In the first three years of his directorship, Bonachela's works received three awards. In the 2011 Australian Dance Awards Amy Hollingsworth won the outstanding performance by a female dancer award for the solo Irony of Fate (2005), and Bonachela the outstanding achievement in choreography award for 6 Breaths (2010). In 2010 the company was also nominated for its performance of We Unfold (2009) and Richard Cilli won the Helpmann Award for best male dancer in that work. Bibliography:

The complete Sydney Dance Company repertoire is listed on the SDCo website. See Complete repertoire. The repertoire and the company's international touring history, both to 1994, are listed in Sydney Dance Company: Repertoire and Touring History published by Sydney Dance Company.

See also: Jill Sykes, 'Graeme Murphy and the SDC' Brolga 26 (June 2007), pp. 7-13.

Research Materials

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Find more about Sydney Dance Company in:

Internet - Google
Articles - New York Public Library Dance Collection
Pictures - Picture Australia