#4: New Breed(2014)

“As a choreographer, you need bodies to create; you need space,” says Artistic Director Rafael Bonachela.

“It’s not like composing, or painting, which you can do in your lounge room. A company like Sydney Dance Company, which has its own space, which is now 50 years old, has a responsibility to support and nurture emerging talent.”

In 2014 the Company partnered with Carriageworks with the support of The Balnaves Foundation to launch New Breed, a platform for new choreography and a lightning rod for fresh, genre-bending and surprising new works.

Cass Mortimer Eipper’s Dogs and Baristas in New Breed 2014. Photo by Pedro Greig.

“It’s an opportunity to let our audiences experience dance that’s risky, like Shian Law’s ‘Epic Theatre’, where the audience ended up on stage, or Tyrone Robinson’s ‘[bio]curious’, which explored sexuality in all its forms.

Tyrone Robinson’s [bio]curious, New Breed 2017. Photo by Pedro Greig.

And then there’s Melanie Lane’s magnificent ‘WOOF’ [returning to the main stage in March] which is contemporary and clubby, but ancient at the same time. You never know what’s going to happen.”

Melanie Lane’s WOOF, New Breed 2017. Photo by Pedro Greig.

Read more about WOOF in a recent Q&A with choreographer Melanie Lane. You can catch WOOF as part of Sydney Dance Company’s 50th Anniversary triple bill, Bonachela / Nankivell / Lane from 26 March in Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne & on National Tour across Australia.

Follow #SDC50Years on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter to revisit some of our highlights and greatest moments of dance over the past 50 years and share your favourite memories of Sydney Dance Company using #SDC50Years.