Joyce Theater Presents SYDNEY DANCE COMPANY, 3/7-12

The Joyce Theater Foundation, Inc. (Linda Shelton, Executive Director) is thrilled to welcome back to its stage Australia's hottest ticket in contemporary dance, Sydney Dance Company, in a mixed bill program featuring three New York premieres showcasing the company's strong, athletic contemporary style from March 7 - 12. Tickets range in price from $10-$56 and can be purchased at www.Joyce.org, or by calling JoyceCharge at 212-242-0800. Please note: ticket prices are subject to change. The Joyce Theater is located at 175 Eighth Avenue at 19th Street. For more information, please visitwww.Joyce.org.

Founded in 1969, Sydney Dance Company is Australia's leading voice in contemporary dance. In 2009, the company came under the helm of Spanish-born Artistic Director Rafael Bonachela, who has continued to cement its reputation as a creative powerhouse, both at home and abroad. For the first time since 2011, this audience favorite returns to The Joyce Theater with a program from choreographers known for pushing the boundaries of dance and the possibilities of movement.

To begin, the company will perform Artistic Director Rafael Bonochela's fiery Frame of Mind. Featuring the company's award-winning troupe of dancers performing the high-energy choreography audiences have come to expect from Bonochela, Frame of Mind is set to a contemporary-classical soundtrack created by Bryce Dessner of American indie-rock band, The National. Next up is the sinuously sexy Raw Models by Jacopo Godani, originally commissioned by Sydney Dance Company in 2011. Rounding out this evening of New York premieres is Gabrielle Nankivell's Wildebeest, showcasing the physicality and power of the company's dancers, both as individuals and en masse, by tapping into the animalistic side of human nature.

Performances of The Joyce Theater's presentation of Sydney Dance Company will take placeMarch 7 - 12 at The Joyce Theater (175 Eighth Avenue at 19th Street) according to the following schedule: Tuesday & Wednesday at 7:30pm; Thursday & Friday at 8pm; Saturday at 2pm & 8pm; and Sunday at 2pm. Curtain Chat, a free post-performance talkback with the artists, will take place on Wednesday, March 8. This enlightening discussion is open to all patrons attending that evening's performance. Tickets range in price from $10-$56 and can be purchased at www.Joyce.org, or by calling JoyceCharge at 212-242-0800. Please note: ticket prices are subject to change. The Joyce Theater is located at 175 Eighth Avenue at 19th Street. For more information, please visitwww.Joyce.org.

ABOUT SYDNEY Dance Company

From performances at the Joyce Theatre in New York, to the Grand in Shanghai, the Stanislavsky in Moscow and the Sydney Opera House at home, Sydney Dance Company has proven that there are no passive observers in a contemporary dance audience. The reward of truly moving audiences, and the raw pride of sharing Australian art with the world has driven the ensemble of 16 dancers, led by Artistic Director Rafael Bonachela, to become one of the world's strongest forces in contemporary dance. Alongside Bonachela's original works, their programs have featured guest choreographers like Jacopo Godani, Alexander Ekman, Gideon Obarzanek and Cheng Tsung-Lung as well as collaborations with the Sydney Festival, Australian Chamber Orchestra, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, David Jones and composers Bryce Dessner, Nick Wales, 48nord and Ezio Bosso. Sydney Dance Company has a broad community beyond the practice and performance of its lead dancers. The company believes in the universality of dance, and with the largest public dance class program in Australia, they help over 80,000 people a year connect with the grace, strength and creativity that lives within all of us. The company's nation-wide education program offers a strategic curriculum targeting primary and secondary students through to career focused study for pre-professional dancers and university graduates. Sydney Dance Company began as a group founded in 1969 by dancer Suzanne Musitz. Soon known as The Dance Company (NSW), from 1975-1976 the Company was directed by Dutch choreographer Jaap Flier, before the appointment of Australian choreographer Graeme Murphy in 1976. In 1979 Murphy and his partner Janet Vernon instituted the defining name change to Sydney Dance Company and proceeded to lead it for a remarkable 30 years. Murphy and his collaborators created work that enthralled audiences in Australia and in extensive international touring, including being the first western contemporary Dance Company to perform in the People's Republic of China. Sydney Dance Company has been led since 2009 by Spanish-born Artistic Director Rafael Bonachela. Over the past eight years the Company has cemented its reputation as a creative powerhouse, with an acclaimed group of dancers presenting new work by Bonachela and other choreographers, designers, composers and musicians. The Company has expanded its reach into the towns and cities it visits with work for schools and local dancers. Since 1985 the Company has been a resident of the purpose-built studios at The Wharf in Sydney's Walsh Bay, minutes from the city's famed Harbour Bridge and Opera House.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Rafael Bonachela (Artistic Director/Choreographer) was born in Barcelona and moved to London in 1992 to join the legendary Rambert Dance Company. He remained with Rambert as a dancer and Associate Choreographer until 2006 when he successfully set up the Bonachela Dance Company (BDC). As a choreographer, Rafael has been commissioned to make works for Candoco, George Piper Dances, ITDANSA Danza, Contemporanea de Cuba, Transitions Dance Company and Dance Works Rotterdam amongst others. In 2008, he premiered his first full-length production 360° for Sydney Dance Company. Less than six months later, he was appointed Artistic Director where his vision for the Company embraces a guiding principle that has seen the repertoire grow with the addition of commissioned dance works from Australian and visiting international guest choreographers. Since the premiere of 360°, Rafael has created several pieces for SDC including we unfold (2009), 6 Breaths (2010), LANDforms (2011), 2 One Another (2012), Project Rameau (2012), Emergence (2013), Les Illuminations (2013), 2 in D Minor (2014), Scattered Rhymes (2014) and Frame of Mind (2015). In addition, he has remounted outstanding repertoire from BDC such as Soledad and Irony of Fate (2010) and The Land of Yes & The Land of No (2011). Rafael was named winner of the dance category for The Monthly's 2013 Arts Awards and listed as one of the (sydney) magazine's Top 100 Most Influential People in 2012 for his efforts to popularize dance since taking on the job of Artistic Director with Sydney Dance Company and as curator of Australia's international festival of contemporary dance, Spring Dance at the Sydney Opera House. Rafael is creating new pieces for Sydney Dance Company in 2017 including Nude Live a collaboration with the Art Gallery of NSW for Sydney Festival and Ocho as part of the Orb season in April / May.

JACOPO GODANI (Choreographer ) was born in La Spezia, Italy, where he began studying classical ballet and modern dance techniques in 1984 at the Centro studi Danza, under the direction of Loredana Rovagna. He also pursued studies in the visual arts for three years at the Fine Arts School of Carrara. In 1986, Godani was accepted to further his studies at Maurice Béjart's international dance centre, Mudra in Brussels. Godani made his professional debut in 1988 performing with several Paris based contemporary dance companies. In 1990, Godani formed his own Brussels based company and began his choreographic career. His work in Brussels was produced by the theatre Atelier Saint Anne and was supported by the Plateau theatre. From 1991 to 2000, Godani has been a leading soloist with William Forsythe's Ballet Frankfurt and has collaborated with Forsythe on the choreographic creation of many of Ballet Frankfurt's most representative pieces. Godani developed his career as a choreographer creating original works for a vast range of international companies such as: Royal Ballet Covent Garden, Bayerisches Staatsballett, Compañía Nacional de Danza, Nederlands Dans Theater, Royal Danish Ballet, Ballet British Columbia, Le Ballet du Capitole de Toulouse, Corpo di ballo del Teatro alla Scala, Royal Ballet of Flanders, Ballet de l'Opera national du Rhin, Finnish National Ballet, Semperoper Ballett, Sydney Dance Company, Israeli Opera Ballet & Suzanne Dellal Centre, Het Nationale Ballet, Aterballetto, Les Ballets de Monte Carlo, Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet and many others. Jacopo Godani has been appointed as Artistic Director and Choreographer of the Dresden Frankfurt Dance Company beginning with the 2015/2016 season. Jacopo first worked with Sydney Dance Company in 2011, when he choreographed Raw Models which was part of a double bill with Rafael Bonachela's LANDforms called Shared Frequencies. Raw Models was brought to the stage again in 2014 as part of the Company's critically acclaimed season Interplay.

GABRIELLE NANKIVELL (Choreographer ) is an Australian director and performer with formative ties to Europe. Informed by a somewhat nomadic existence, her work is concerned with notions of impermanence. Derived primarily from writing and improvisation, her hybrid choreographic practice invokes imagination, creature and sense memory while supporting perception as a creative and performative condition. Gabrielle creates works independently, commissioned by professional companies and leading tertiary institutions and in collaboration with composer/performer Luke Smiles. She has been awarded choreographic residencies including, Dancehouse's Housemate, Adelaide Festival Centre's inSPACE:development and STRUT's SEED as well as creating works through residency platforms in Armenia, Belgium, Portugal, Singapore and Slovenia. Her work has been presented in 10 countries. Recent choreographic commissions include, Wildebeest for Sydney Dance Company's 2014 New Breed season, Order of Things for Frontier Danceland Singapore, To Hunt for LINK Dance Company and SUITE SECRET for STRUT's Mi Casa Es Su Casa at Fringe World 2015. Gabrielle also provides choreography and movement consultancy across various stage and film productions, notably for Windmill Theatre's multi award-winning School Dance and Girl Asleep and feature film Girl Asleep. Gabrielle honed her dance career in Europe performing for Belgian artists Alexander Baervoets and Ultima Vez/Wim Vandekeybus and collaborating with Jurij Konjar (Slovenia), Raul Maia (Portugal) and Thomas Steyaert (Belgium). She has also lived and worked in Germany and Denmark. Since re-connecting with Australia through her own projects Gabrielle has worked with Australian Dance Theatre/Garry Stewart, Animal Farm Collective/The Farm, Branch Nebula, Chunky Move/Gideon Obarzanek, Gavin Webber, Grayson Millwood, KAGE and Torque Show amongst others. Gabrielle is the recipient of the Marten Bequest Travelling Scholarship, two Impulstanz Vienna DanceWEB Scholarships, the inaugural Keith Bain Choreographic Travel Fellowship (2014) and the 2015 Tanja Liedtke Fellowship. Gabrielle trained with Jacqueline Tucker in Adelaide and holds a Bachelor of Dance (Victorian College of the Arts), a Master of Arts in Writing (Swinburne University) and a foundation level teaching certificate in Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga. Gabrielle's Wildebeest choreographed for Sydney Dance Company in 2014, was named in the 2014 Dance Australia Critics Survey for being 'Best New Work'.

ABOUT THE Joyce Theater Foundation

The Joyce Theater Foundation ("The Joyce," Executive Director, Linda Shelton), a nonprofit organization, has proudly served the dance community for over three decades. Under the direction of founders Cora Cahan and Eliot Feld, Ballet Tech Foundation acquired and The Joyce renovated the Elgin Theater in Chelsea. Opening as The Joyce Theater in 1982, it was named in honor of Joyce Mertz, beloved daughter of LuEsther T. Mertz. It was LuEsther's clear, undaunted vision and abundant generosity that made it imaginable and ultimately possible to build the theater. Ownership was secured by The Joyce in 2015. The theater is one of the only theaters built by dancers for dance and has provided an intimate and elegant home for over 400 U.S.-based and international companies. The Joyce has also presented dance at Lincoln Center since 2012, and launched Joyce Unleashed in 2014 to feature emerging and experimental artists. To further support the creation of new work, The Joyce maintains longstanding commissioning and residency programs. Local students and teachers (K-12th grade) benefit from its school program, and family and adult audiences get closer to dance with access to artists. The Joyce's annual season of about 48 weeks of dance now includes over 340 performances for audiences in excess of 150,000.

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Lead support for The Joyce Theater Foundation has been received from Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and LuEsther T. Mertz Charitable Trust.

Underwriting support for The Joyce's presentation of Sydney Dance Company provided by Kerry Clayton and Paige Royer. Additional support provided by the Australian Consulate-General, New York.

Support for The Joyce's presentation of international dance provided by the R. Britton Fisher and Family Gift for International Dance. Additional support has been provided by the Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Endowment Fund to encourage the performances of out-of-town companies at The Joyce Theater.

The Joyce Theater's Dance Presentation Program is supported by a grant award from the National Endowment for the Arts; and made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature; as well as supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council with special thanks to Council Member Corey Johnson.

Major support has been provided by Ford Foundation, Howard Gilman Foundation, The Harkness Foundation for Dance, The Pasculano Foundation, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, The Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, The SHS Foundation, and The Shubert Foundation. Key support has been provided by First Republic Bank, The Florence Gould Foundation, The Hearst Foundations, Mertz Gilmore Foundation, New England Foundation for the Arts' National Dance Project, and The Jerome Robbins Foundation.