Summer season is hotting up – don’t miss what’s on locally in the dance world!

DARK MATTERS - Sydney Festival
Kidd-Pivot (Canada)

“Inventive, aggressive choreography, precise electric dancing.” The Ottawa Citizen
“Dark matter” comprises roughly 96% of the observable universe, and yet its nature remains a mystery. This darkness is parallelled Dark Matters. The work is structured in two parts: Act One portrays the tension between creation and destruction through a decidedly theatrical fable; Act Two is pure dance, with choreography that grapples with the essential question of free will and the conflict inherent in manipulation. Crystal Pite is an extraordinary dancer and supremely inventive choreographer whose distinct style fuses classical elements, the complexity and freedom of structured improvisation, and a strong theatrical sensibility.

Sydney Theatre at Walsh Bay
Dates: January 19-23 at 8pm  January 24 at 5pm
Durations:  1hr 25mins, including interval
Tickets: A Reserve: $70/$65 B Reserve: $60/$55
Bookings:  Sydney Theatre phone  02 9250 1999

TEMPEST: WITHOUT A BODY - Sydney Festival
Mau (Samoa)

Reflecting Sydney Festival’s aim to engage with significant contemporary cultural voices of the Asia Pacific are these first Australian performances of work by Pacific culture warrior Lemi Ponifasio. Tempest: Without a Body is a powerful, visually ravishing and apocalyptic response to the sinister escalation of post-9/11 state powers. From a thematic departure point of Shakespeare’s Tempest, this formidable work merges authentic traditional movement, video imagery and political content through direct reference to the arrest of Ahmed Zaoui and featuring an extraordinary appearance by the Maori activist Tame Iti.

Each MAU work is a reinforcement of the aesthetic values and philosophies of the Pacific peoples and a deeply felt personal statement. The works exist in a state of ritual and ceremony and in between the elements of dance, theatre, oratory and visual arts. Tempest: Without a Body premiered in Vienna at Peter Sellars’ 2007 New Crowned Hope Festival.

Everest Theatre, Seymour Centre
Dates:   January 10 at 1pm, 8pm
Duration: 1hr 30mins, no interval
Tickets:   $45/$40
Bookings:  Seymour Centre tel. 02 9351 7940

HAPPY AS LARRY - Sydney Festival
Shaun Parker Projects (Australia)
WORLD PREMIERE

Nine remarkable performers with very distinctive personalities explore the elusiveness and possibility of human happiness in Shaun Parker’s latest dance theatre music work, accompanied by a vibrant electro/acoustic score from Nick Wales and Bree van Reyk. The characters are developed from the Enneagram, a psychological system that maps
personality types: the Perfectionist, the Giver, the Performer, the Tragic Romantic, the Observer, the Devil’s Advocate, the Optimist, the Boss and the Mediator. Parker is well known to Sydney Festival for his choreography driven by human feelings, personalities and psychological idiosyncrasies, most notably in This Show is About People (2008).

Riverside Theatres & Seymour Theatre Centre

Venue:  Riverside Theatres
Dates:  Previews: January 22 at 8pm  January 23 at 2pm Season: January 23 at 8pm / January 24 at 5pm
Duration:  1hr 15 mins, no interval
Tickets:  $30
Bookings:  Riverside Theatres phone 02 8839 3399

Venue: Everest Theatre Seymour Centre
Dates:  January 27-30 at 8.30pm  January 30 at 2pm
Duration:  1hr 15 mins, no interval
Tickets:  $30
Bookings:  Seymour Centre phone 02 9351 7940

BALÉ DE RUA – Sydney Festival
(Brazil)

With a pulsating mix of hip-hop, African dance, samba and capoeira, Balé de Rua will burst onto the Concert Hall stage. Hailing from the streets of Brazil, this adrenalin-fuelled cast of 15 men and one woman deliver a high pressure performance celebrating life, love and all things Brazilian. A lively backdrop of percussion sets the scene for this inspiring event displaying the power of the Brazilian people. Exhilarating break-dancing and breathless body movements ensure this dynamic and engaging street ballet will have you dancing in your seats.
Venue: Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House
Dates: 8 – 17 January 2010
Tickets: Premium $99, A Reserve $79/$69 B Reserve $69/$59, C Reserve $59/$49
Duration: 70 minutes
Bookings: 9250 7777 or sydneyoperahouse.com

GISELLE – Sydney Festival
Fabulous Beast Theatre Company (Ireland)

“Brazenly and triumphantly new. ..........” The Guardian
In the small town of Ballyfeeny, where the cloud hangs low and people keep their secrets for good reasons, a lonely Giselle McCreedy cares for her abusive brother. But the town’s inhabitants are quick to exchange gloom for glamour when the line-dancing Bratislavan Albrecht arrives in town, and for the first time Giselle dares to dream of escape. Fabulous Beast Theatre Company is an international ensemble led by Irish director and choreographer Michael Keegan-Dolan. This radical reinterpretation of the romantic ballet blends speech, song, stunning imagery and superb choreography in an uncompromising production on the very edges of theatre and dance. Contains sexually explicit material, strong language and scenes which some may find disturbing. Not suitable for children.

Venue: CarriageWorks Bay 17
Dates:  Preview January 20 at 8pm  January 22, 23, 25 at 8pm / January 24, 26 at 5pm
Duration: 1hr 20mins, no interval
Tickets:  A Reserve: $75/$70   B Reserve: $65/$60
Transaction fees up to $5.50 apply
Bookings:  Ticketmaster phone 1300 723 038