SYDNEY DANCE COMPANY

Ascent an inspired triple bill featuring Antony Hamilton’s Helpmann-award winning Forever & Ever and two new works – I Am-ness by Artistic Director Rafael Bonachela and The Shell, A Ghost, The Host & The Lyrebird by renowned international choreographer Marina Mascarell. Brimming with physicality, Ascent tempers contemporary classical with futuristic experimentation. Full of electric movement and emotional force, this program is an arresting portrait of contemporary dance and its potential to move, excite and activate audiences.

Rafael Bonachela’s I Am-ness calls for the convergence of the moving body and creative mind, as four dancers canvass the nature of existence with euphoric tenderness. Marina Mascarell’s The Shell, A Ghost, The Host & The Lyrebird takes the audience on a journey with bodies through the unknown, exploring a constantly transforming space as mutant creatures in an oneiric valley. To conclude the trip bill, Forever & Ever fuses a killer mix of dance, techno, high fashion and vivid lighting to hypnotic effect.

Brought to life by Sydney Dance Company’s superb ensemble, Ascent is a sensorial delight complete with inventive installations and magnetic musical scores. Exploring themes of humanity, technology, and nature, this is a creative union at once forceful, sumptuous and dizzying.

I Am-ness
Choreography Rafael Bonachela / Music “Lonely angel”, meditation for violin and strings by Pēteris Vasks / Lighting Design Damien Cooper / Costume Design Rafael Bonachela / Costume Designer Realisation Aleisa Jelbart

The Shell, A Ghost, The Host & The Lyrebird
Direction: Marina Mascarell / Choreographer Marina Mascarell, in collaboration with Sophie Jones, Jesse Scales, Lucy Angel, Coco Wood, Liam Green, Dean Elliott, Emily Seymour, Jacopo Grabar and Luke Hayward / Music Composed by Nick Wales / Set & Costume Designers Lauren Brincat and Leah Giblin / Lighting Design Damien Cooper

Forever & Ever
Choreography Antony Hamilton / Music Julian Hamilton / Costume Design Paula Levis / Lighting Design Ben Cisterne