New Breed 2015 choreographers (L to R) Fiona Jopp, Kristina Chan, Daniel Riley, Bernhard Knauer. Photo Peter Greig
New Breed 2015 to Premiere in Germany
Sydney Dance Company and Carriageworks have announced that the four works in their New Breed 2015 program will make their debut on the international stage.
The newly created pieces – by independent dancer/choreographers Daniel Riley and Kristina Chan, and Sydney Dance Company dancers/choreographers Bernhard Knauer and Fiona Jopp, will be presented under the New Breed banner at Germany’s renownedFestpiele Ludwigshafen, on November 26.
This is ahead of the highly anticipated Australian premiere season of New Breed 2015 , running from December 8 to 13 at Sydney’s Carriageworks.
For all four of the New Breed 2015 choreographers, an international premiere as part of a major European dance festival is an honour and an incredible opportunity, made possible by Sydney Dance Company’s standing in the international arena.
However, for German-born Sydney Dance Company dancer Bernhard Knauer, the international premiere has a special significance. Knauer’s debut choreographic work, ‘Derived’, is inspired by and set to the music of his father, composer Jürgen Knauer. For the German performance, the music will be played live on stage by musicians Martin Knauer (Bernhard’s brother), and Friedwart Dittman.
Knauer says, “It is such privilege to have my piece performed in Germany, and I am thrilled that my family can be a part of it. Being able to work with my father and brother is something that I have hoped for, for many years. Having made the decision to live and work in Australia five years ago, this opportunity to create and perform together doesn’t happen everyday.”
New Breed will premiere internationally on Thursday November 26, at the 1,040-seat Concert Hall at Theatre im Pfalzbau, as part of an Australian dance showcase at Festpiele Ludwigshafen 2015. The four-part program comprises:
Bernhard Knauer’s ‘Derived’, choreography for four dancers, set to music by Jürgen Knauer;
‘Reign’ by Indigenous dancer/choreographer Daniel Riley, choreography for eight female dancers, set to an original score by Nick Thayer;
Fiona Jopp’s ‘so much, doesn’t matter’ choreography for six dancers, set to an original score by Alicia Merz and Tobias Merz;
Kristina Chan’s ‘Conform’, choreography for eight male dancers, set to an original score by James Brown.
Sydney Dance Company will also present its acclaimed triple bill, Triptych at the Festpiele, with special guest soprano multi-award winning songstress Katie Noonan, and featuring the German State Philharmonic of Rhineland-Palatinate.
Generously sponsored by The Balnaves Foundation, New Breed provides an invaluable opportunity for Australian choreographers. Each year four aspiring Australian choreographers are hand picked to be a part of the New Breed program – 2 from the independent sector and 2 from within Sydney Dance Company – and are commissioned to create a new dance work. The four are then given access to the cream of Australia’s full time professional contemporary dancers – the 16 members of the Sydney Dance Company ensemble, to select from for their cast. Watch the teaser for New Breed 2015 here!
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