Continuing their collective commitment to emerging choreographers, Sydney Dance Company, in partnership with Carriageworks and The Balnaves Foundation, are returning to the stage this November with the seventh edition of New Breed.
New Breed is Australia’s most exciting showcase of raw talent and fresh ideas from some of the country’s most gifted emerging choreographers. The New Breed 2020 choreographers are: Joel Bray (Melbourne), Raghav Handa (Sydney), Chloe Leong (Sydney) and Jesse Scales (Sydney).
Melbourne-based Joel Bray has travelled to Sydney to participate in New Breed, and has undertaken a two-week hotel quarantine period, using this time to begin developing his New Breed work.
These four talented choreographers will create new works featuring a rich diversity of choreographic ideas to be performed by Sydney Dance Company’s company dancers. A sign of the times, this year all New Breed works have been specially choreographed to adhere to COVID-safe restrictions; in each work, the performers will be socially distanced.
Sydney Dance Company will be the first major dance company in New South Wales to return to the stage following the easing of audience capacity restrictions. New Breed also represents the first live on-stage performance from Sydney Dance Company in 2020 after the company was forced to cancel all previously scheduled performances due to COVID19.
“This year’s New Breed is very special for Sydney Dance Company, as it’s the first time in twelve months that we’ll be performing live on stage,” said Artistic Director Rafael Bonachela. “We have been hard at work all year preparing for the time when we would finally get to dance live for Australia again – and now that time is finally here!”
New Breed is such an important program supporting the development of new work and emerging artists, and I’m excited that we will be able to share the work of four talented artists representing the next generation of Australian choreographers with audiences this year.”
Carriageworks CEO Blair French said, “Carriageworks is delighted to again work with Sydney Dance Company and The Balnaves Foundation to present New Breed. This unique program of new works by the very best of emerging Australian choreographers is a highlight in our program every year.”
“To be able to present such ambitious and risk-taking live work to on-site audiences after such a difficult year, for all involved in the arts generally and live performance in particular, is especially thrilling.”
Victoria Balnaves of The Balnaves Foundation said, “The Balnaves Foundation is excited to continue supporting Sydney Dance Company with their New Breed program in 2020, which engages outstanding new emerging choreographic talent in Australia. This will be the Company’s first season back for the year post COVID-19, as well as being the longest New Breed program the Company has presented to date, with a total of 15 performances.
This will be a wonderful welcome back for the Company and the arts culture in general which has been greatly missed in these uncertain times. We look forward to seeing what the current climate has fostered creatively in the works of the four young choreographers that will be showcased this year.”
“Always a highlight of the city’s art calendar… you get to see the company’s astonishing dancers stretched in new and unexpected directions under choreographers who are often at the start of their creative journeys and willing to take an experimental leap.” – Timeout
New Breed takes place at Carriageworks: 26 November – 12 December 2020. For more information, visit: www.sydneydancecompany.com or www.carriageworks.com.au for details.
Image: New Breed 2020 – photo by Pedro Greig