 Imagine beaches
awash with blue water, white sand and gleaming bodies. Imagine shining
cities with streets alive with the international wit of a confluence
of cultures. That is the irrepressible spirit of Australia. It is
also the heartbeat of its foremost contemporary dance company, Sydney
Dance Company, which returns to The Joyce Theater, February 17–22,
with the New York premiere of Graeme Murphy’s “Ellipse,”
which was greeted with ecstatic applause and rave reviews when it
opened at the Sydney Opera House in 2002. Murphy is the company’s
Artistic Director; and Janet Vernon, its Associate Artistic Director.
Set to a collage of scores by contemporary
Australian composer Matthew Hindson, “Ellipse” is Murphy
stripped to the bone. Australian visual artist Gerard Manion’s
set is a simple metal construction that creates a parabola through
which the dancers move and Damien Cooper’s lighting flows.
Testing the limits of the performers’ limitless energy and
Murphy’s infinite imagination, “Ellipse” is a
suite of seven dances, united by their sensuality and varying emotional
resonances. The dance travels through feelings of lament, joy, desire,
rivalry, tenderness—all rivetingly expressed by the company’s
dancers. The costumes are by renowned Australian fashion designer
Akira Isogawa, who together with Manion and Cooper, collaborated
with Murphy on the choreographer’s 1999 “Air and Other
Invisible Forces.”
The Joyce performances take place in the
middle of the company’s national U.S. tour which begins at
the Annenberg Center for the Arts in Philadelphia, where the company
plays February 5–7. The tour continues with performances at
The Concert Hall at SUNY, Purchase College (February 13); Staller
Center for the Arts at SUNY, Stony Brook (February 14); The Joyce
Theater in New York City (February 17–22); Gailliard Municipal
Auditorium in Charleston, SC (February 24); Fox Theater, St. Louis,
MO (February 27 & 28); Aspen District Theater, Aspen, CO (March
2 & 3); Yardley Hall at Johnson County Community College, Kansas
City, KS (March 6); Jackson Hall at University of California, Davis
(March 9); and Memorial Auditorium at Stanford University, Palo
Alto, CA (March 12 & 13).
Headed by Graeme Murphy since 1976, Sydney
Dance Company was created in 1969 as The Dance Company (NSW). Since
the repertoire and dancing reflected the innovative energy of its
home city, the name of the company was changed to Sydney Dance Company
in 1979. Under Murphy and his artistic associate Janet Vernon, the
company has become one of the most original and innovative troupes
on the international dance scene with over 20 international tours
to Asia, Europe and North and South America. The company’s
performing home base is the spectacular Sydney Opera House, where
the troupe has performed semiannually since 1977.
Murphy has choreographed over 42 dances
(24 of which are full length) for Sydney Dance Company since he
became its artistic director 27 years ago. Beginning his dance career
as a performer with The Australian Ballet, for whom he also created
his first ballet “Ecco Le Diavole” in 1971, Murphy later
danced with the Sadler’s Wells Royal Ballet and the Ballets
Felix Blaska in France. In addition to his work with Sydney Dance
Company, Murphy has choreographed five works for The Australian
Ballet, including an original, complete “Nutcracker”
in 1992 and a hugely successful, new “Swan Lake,” which
won the 2003 Australian Dance Award for Best Choreography. He has
also created ballets for Nederlands Dans Theater, the Royal New
Zealand Ballet and the Canadian Opera Company and was commissioned
to create a solo for Mikhail Baryshnikov for White Oak Dance Project’s
1996 Australian tour. Other works include 2000’s “Mythologia”
for the Sydney Olympics International Arts Festival and “Tivoli,”
a dance musical from 2001, which was awarded four Australian Dance
Awards.
A successful director and choreographer
for opera, Murphy has directed Brian Howard’s “Metamorphosis”
and Giacomo Puccini’s “Turandot,” in addition
to Richard Strauss’s “Salome.” In 1994 he created
a new production of Hector Berlioz’s “Les Troyens,”
bringing the singers and dancers of Opera Australia together with
the Sydney Dance Company. In 1999, he choreographed The Metropolitan
Opera’s production of “Samson and Dalila” which
was later aired nationally on PBS Great Performances. He has also
worked with former world champion ice skating duo Jayne Torvill
and Christopher Dean to create their world tour production and TV
program “Fire and Ice.”
Murphy is the recipient of his country’s
most important honors including an AM in 1982. He was honored at
the Inaugural Sydney Opera House Honors in 1993, named a National
Living Treasure in 1998 and is the recipient of three honorary doctorates.
In 2003, he received the Centenary Medal from the Australian government
for service to the development of dance in Australia.
The evening curtain for Sydney Dance Company at The Joyce Theater
is at 8pm, Tuesday through Saturday. There will also be a 2pm matinee
on both Saturday and Sunday. Please note: there will be no performance
on Sunday night. Tickets are $38, and are available at the box office,
by calling JoyceCharge at 212-242-0800, or online at www.joyce.org.
The Joyce Theater is located at 175 Eighth Avenue at 19th Street.
###
Sydney Dance Company’s 2004 tour to the United States has
been made possible with the invaluable support of the following
organizations: Australia Council for the Arts; Australian Consulate-General,
New York; Novell; Qantas Airways; City of Sydney; Wallenius Wilhelmsen;
and NSW Ministry for the Arts.
011504
BACK TO TOP
250 West 57th Street Suite 2318 New York
NY 10107 USA
T: 212.245.5100 F:212.397.1102 eja@ejassociates.org www.ejassociates.org
ELLEN JACOBS ASSOCIATES
|