Director Philanthropy and Partnerships

Dance changes you. More than simply witnessing something beautiful, or engaging with culture, to experience dance is to be positively altered. From performances at the Joyce Theatre in New York and Shanghai Grand Centre, to the central desert in Alice Springs and the Harbour Foreshore at the Sydney Opera House, Sydney Dance Company has proved that there are no passive observers in a contemporary dance audience.

The reward of transforming audiences, and the raw pride of sharing Australian art with the world, has driven our ensemble of 17 dancers, led by Artistic Director Rafael Bonachela, to become one of the world’s strongest forces in contemporary dance.

Alongside Bonachela’s original works, our programs have featured guest choreographers such as Melanie Lane, William Forsythe, Antony Hamilton, Gabrielle Nankivell, Stephanie Lake, Alexander Ekman, Marina Mascarell and Cheng Tsung Lung, collaborations with Sydney Festival, Australian String Quartet, Australian Chamber Orchestra, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Sydney Conservatorium of Music’s Composing Women, composers Bryce Dessner, Nick Wales and the late Ezio Bosso, visual artists Lauren Brincat and Leah Giblin, and fashion designers Bianca Spender, Akira Isogawa and Romance Was Born.

We are also no longer solely a professional dance company, with a broad community beyond the practice and performance of our Company dancers.

We support a diverse range of other dance makers and creatives through the many branches of our Company, expanding the creative practice and opportunities for our artform and its artists. We have extended and broadened our education and training activities to become a gateway for people to participate in dance at all levels, with the largest public dance class program in Australia. Our nationwide education program offers multiple opportunities for primary and secondary students through to career focused study for Pre-Professional Year dancers and university graduates.