Sydney Dance Company 2026 Season

In 2026 Sydney Dance Company ignites new artistic collaboration and presents bold choreographic ideas in an empowering year that celebrates the evolving landscape of contemporary dance.

Across two Sydney seasons, national and international touring, and a suite of programs dedicated to supporting independent artists, 2026 continues the Company’s exploration into contemporary dance.

Season One launches in June with a triple bill Engine at the Sydney Opera House, bringing together the work of three choreographers. Artistic Director Rafael Bonachela premieres The Journey Itself is Home, a new work featuring music by Grammy Award-winning composer Bryce Dessner and inspired by 17th century Japanese poet Matsuo Bashō.

The second work is the Australian premiere of The Mass Ornament by Berlin-based Spanish choreographer Fran Diaz, one of Europe’s most exciting rising talents. Making his Australian debut, Díaz brings his acclaimed choreographic language to Sydney Dance Company with a work set to the music of Henryk Górecki. Diaz transforms the concept of mass movement into a powerful piece that reveals a deeply human network, where individuality and collectivity coexist, not in opposition, but in dialogue.

Completing the bill is the return of Love Lock from Australian/Javanese choreographer Melanie Lane — a re-imagined folk dance of the future, drawing upon collective experiences of diverse cultures, an accelerating world and disappearing lands. Love Lock celebrates the binding ability of dance to move, warn and empower, showcasing costume design by legendary Australian fashion designer Akira Isogawa, layered with textured colour, and a score composed by UK electronic artist Clark.

Throughout August and September, the Company will host a celebratory public program marking the 40 years of residency at Walsh Bay Arts Precinct, honouring the people and artistry that have defined this creative hub, looking towards a vibrant and contemporary future.

Season Two’s Current is at the heart of the 40 Years at the Wharf celebrations. Current will once again transform Sydney Dance Company’s Neilson Studio into an intimate, up-close performance space. Audiences are invited into vivid proximity with the dancers — where every gesture, breath and shift of energy can be felt. Featuring new works by Australian choreographers Raghav Handa, Jenni Large, and Azzam Mohamed, woven together with the Australian premiere of Bonachela’s work E2 7SD.

Together these four artists form a portrait of contemporary Australian dance — diverse in form, voice and perspective, yet united by curiosity and originality of expression. Raghav Handa, The Balnaves Foundation Artist in Residence 2025, draws on the principles of Indian kathak to create layered explorations of modern Australian identity; Jenni Large, a New Breed alum, channels the personal, political, and transformational forces of the body, creating work that fuses movement with apparatus and hyper-design; and Azzam Mohamed, a Sydney-based Sudanese dancer, choreographer and educator, encompasses a blend of styles, spanning traditional cultural, street and club dance genres. First created over 20 years ago, and never performed in Australia, E2 7SD represents a significant moment in Bonachela’s artistic evolution, fostering his enduring fascination with the intricate interplay between two bodies. Current will be a convergence of contemporary Australian perspectives – proximate and vital.

Sydney Dance Company reaffirms its commitment to nourishing the creative ecology of the dance sector, developing and presenting performances for audiences to engage with and experience the breadth of contemporary dance.

The fifth edition of INDance opens in April at the Neilson Studio, presenting works by Christopher Gurusamy, Emma Harrison, Jenni Large, and Oli Matheisen. Supported by the Neilson Foundation, INDance continues to present works by independent dance makers — a destination connecting exciting ideas with curious audiences.

Jenni Large has been announced as The Balnaves Foundation Artist for Residence 2026.

A major new initiative, ORBIT launches in November. A partnership between Australian Dance Theatre (South Australia), Dancehouse (Victoria) and Sydney Dance Company, ORBIT is a pilot national touring program that will see four existing independent dance works remounted and performed across three states. Supported by Creative Australia, ORBIT is intended to champion the longevity of exceptional independent dance. Across two weeks of double bills, audiences will experience a cross-section of Australian choreography and the opportunity to see some of the most compelling and seminal contemporary dance works.

Nationally, Sydney Dance Company will tour two main programs across New South Wales, Western Australia and the Northern Territory, including Bonachela’s Spell, Tra Mi Dinh’s Somewhere between ten and fourteen, Fran Diaz’ The Mass Ornament and Melanie Lane’s Love Lock. The Company will perform before Melbourne audiences with a program to be announced soon. Following sell-out international seasons through Europe and the US, the Company will again take on a global tour, sharing its distinctly Australian voice before international audiences, sought after by leading festivals and presenters around the world.

Sydney Dance Company Artistic Director Rafael Bonachela said: “2026 will be a truly momentous year for Sydney Dance Company, a milestone that will be unforgettable. It’s a year of reflection, celebration, reinvention… and empowerment.

“Every season we push contemporary dance to its edge, and next year will be something else entirely. Our empowering program celebrates the courage to create, to innovate and to inspire.

“As we mark 40 years at Walsh Bay Arts Precinct, we honour the incredible artists who have shaped our story and those who will lead us into the future.

“This remarkable home on the wharf has been a wellspring of creativity and collaboration, a space where ideas are nurtured and dance continues to evolve.

“From world premieres to stirring collaborations, 2026 celebrates the richness and diversity of our artform in Australia today, a season that empowers artists and audiences alike to see, feel and imagine anew.” 

Season One – Engine
The Drama Theatre, Sydney Opera House: 24 June – 12 July

Season Two – Current
The Neilson Studio, Sydney Dance Company: 3 – 20 September

INDance Neilson Studio, Sydney Dance Company: 30 April – 9 May

ORBIT Neilson Studio, Sydney Dance Company: November

National Tour

Spellbound (Spell, Somewhere between ten and fourteen, Love Lock)

Orange (NSW), 18 February,

Tamworth (NSW), 21 February

Engine (The Journey Itself is Home, Mass Ornament, Love Lock)

Wyong (NSW), exclusive preview performance, 19 June
Shoalhaven (NSW), 24 July
Albany (WA), 29 July
Mandurah (WA), 1 August
Perth (WA), 5 – 7 August
Darwin (NT), 12 August
Alice Springs (NT), 15 August

Fran Diaz’s The Mass Ornament is generously supported by Sydney Dance Company’s Visionary Patron, the Clegg Foundation.

Love Lock was originally supported as part of Sydney Dance Company’s TwoFold season by Visionary Patron, the Clegg Foundation.

Somewhere between ten and fourteen was originally supported by The Balnaves Foundation as part of New Breed 2023.

International Tour

International touring details will be announced in 2026.

More information sydneydancecompany.com