Sydney Dance Company and Sydney Symphony Orchestra Premieres New Collaborative Work In Response To Isolation

Sydney Symphony Orchestra and Sydney Dance Company have achieved an Australian first by collaborating to create a unique online series, featuring four of Australia's celebrated musicians and four of Australia's leading dancers. Each work, produced and directed by Pedro Greig, has been choreographed by Rafael Bonachela, Sydney Dance Company's internationally acclaimed Artistic Director.

Each episode is individually conceived and responds to the impact of isolation and distancing.

Dancers and musicians began the collaborative process online, working with Bonachela and creative director and filmmaker Pedro Greig to conceive and realise works that were unique and responded to this extraordinary period in time. Online discussions and sharing of music took place over a number of weeks, with each element finally recorded in isolation at the Sydney Dance Company Studios in Ultimo, Sydney.

Sydney Dance Company Artistic Director, Rafael Bonachela said: "I am absolutely delighted that, in collaboration with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, we have been able to create such a beautiful series of films during this time of lockdown and restrictions. It has been very challenging and frustrating for all performing artists to not be able to perform; this has been an uplifting and joyful experience as four exceptional dancers from Sydney Dance Company and four virtuosic musicians from the Sydney Symphony Orchestra have come together, separately, to make this new work, a creative response to the emotional impact of the global pandemic."

Sydney Symphony Orchestra Principal Oboe, Diana Doherty said: "From the outset I was very excited about the idea of collaborating with the Sydney Dance Company in this creative way. I love Holliger's music. It captures so much of the strange new lockdown situation in which we all suddenly found ourselves. It seems to pose questions which keep surfacing during this time. How did we find ourselves in this extraordinary situation, how do we thrive and grow and what are our sources of comfort and support? Cuatro hints at the hope of better things to come and a society that has adjusted and developed more caring attitudes.

"It has been a joy to explore all this with such clever, creative people. It shows that when faced with being restricted, thinking "outside the box" enables us to continue to connect and create something artistic and beautiful."

Cuatro's four episodes and online release dates are:

Cuatro 1a??
Diana Doherty, Principal Oboe, Sydney Symphony Orchestra
Charmene Yap, Sydney Dance Company
Music by: HEINZ HOLLIGER Sonata for solo oboe, I. Präludium
Available online: Friday 5 June

Cuatro 2a??
Andrew Haveron, Concertmaster, Sydney Symphony Orchestra
Davide Di Giovanni, Sydney Dance Company
Music by: NICCOLÒ PAGANINI 24 Caprices for Solo Violin, Op.1: No. 11 in C
Available online: Friday 12 June

Cuatro 3
Umberto Clerici, Principal Cello, Sydney Symphony Orchestra
Juliette Barton, Sydney Dance Company
Music by:a??J.S. BACH Suite No. 1 in G major, BWV 1007: IV. Sarabande
Available online: Friday 19 June

Cuatro 4
Emma Sholl, Associate Principal Flute, Sydney Symphony Orchestra
Chloe Leong, Sydney Dance Company
Music by:a??Claude Debussy Syrinx
Available online: Friday 26 June

Each episode will be released on both companies' social platforms and websites:

Sydney Dance Company
Facebook: @sydneydanceco
YouTube: sydneydancecompany
Webpage: sydneydancecompany.com

Sydney Symphony Orchesrta
Facebook: @sydneysymphony
YouTube: Sydney Symphony Orchestra
Webpage: sydneysymphony.com

All performances were filmed at Sydney Dance Company's Wattle Street studio with New South Wales' social distancing requirements strictly adhered to.