Sydney Dance Company is proud to announce national tour dates for their celebrated production De Novo, a program of three revolutionary works, brought to life by Australia’s premier contemporary dance ensemble.
This playful triple bill, which premiered to audience and critical acclaim in Sydney in 2013, features works by Sydney Dance Company Artistic Director Rafael Bonachela, Adelaide’s Larissa McGowan and renowned Swedish choreographer Alexander Ekman.
De Novowill tour for the first time in 2015, with 17 performances at 11 venues across the Northern Territory, South Australia, regional Victoria and Tasmania – from Darwin to The Alice, Whyalla, Port Pirie, Renmark, Mt Gambier, Adelaide, Bendigo, Frankston, Hobart and Launceston, July 14 to August 17.
De Novo, Emergence. Photo by Wendell Teodoro
The evening begins with Rafael Bonachela’s ‘Emergence’, a sophisticated, intelligent work, with a raw and discordant beauty, set to a brilliantly dark, driving experimental original soundtrack by internationally acclaimed Australian singer-songwriter Sarah Blasko and composer Nick Wales.‘Emergence’ sees the entire company ensemble take to the stage as a stunning soundscape take sensual, physical form.
Next, from Adelaide-based Australian choreographer Larissa McGowan comes ‘Fanatic’ , a hilarious pop-culture collision that pits Alien vs Predator in an interstellar dance showdown between two titanic sci-fi film franchises. This tongue-in-cheek exploration of sci-fi fan culture features a trio of Sydney Dance Company dancers at their dramatic best and a soundscape of movie-bytes from two 20th Century blockbusters.
De Novo, Emergence. Photo by Peter Greig
Intelligent, irreverent and highly entertaining, ‘Cacti’ is the third in the trilogy. It’s a critically acclaimed work of one of Europe’s most highly sought-after artists, award-winning Swedish choreographer Alexander Ekman. This brilliantly conceived, fresh and engaging theatrical performance featuring 16 dancers, a string quartet, potted cacti and a cat called Fluffy, celebrates the simple pleasure of dance, whilst simultaneously commenting with sharp wit and good humour, on the audiences’ obsessive desire to define and interpret art and performance.
Inspired and unexpected, De Novo promises a very different evening of entertainment, as it unleashes three fresh wily dance works on an unsuspecting audience.
‘ … witty, smart and danced with kick-arse joy.’ – The Monthly
‘ Sydney Dance Company has never looked stronger, sexier or more playful … 10/10.’ – Sun-Herald
‘ Sydney Dance Company set fire to expectations … ’ – Drum Media ‘Blindingly brilliant ’ – Crikey.com
DE NOVO NATIONAL TOUR DATES
15 July, Darwin Entertainment Centre, Darwin
18 July, Araluen Arts Centre, Alice Springs
22 July, Middleback Theatre, Whyalla, SA
25 July, Northern Festival Centre, Port Pirie, SA
29 July, Chaffey Theatre, Renmark, SA
1 August, Sir Robert Helpmann Theatre, Mt Gambier, SA
6–8 August, Adelaide Festival Centre, Adelaide, SA
Leading First Nations choreographer Peta Strachan brings her all-female Jannawi Dance Clan to the Sydney Opera House for the world premiere of Garrigarrang Badu as part of Sydney Festival 2026. Meaning “saltwater / freshwater” in the Dharug language, the work...
