Sydney Dance Company (SDC) is one of Australia’s leading contemporary dance companies. Established in 1969, the Company has cemented its reputation as a creative powerhouse, with an acclaimed group of dancers presenting new work by Artistic Director Rafael Bonachela and guest choreographers, designers, composers and musicians. Sydney Dance Company is internationally recognised as a strong force in contemporary dance, with a broad community beyond the practice and performance of the professional Ensemble.
Since 2014, The Balnaves Foundation and Sydney Dance Company have partnered to support emerging contemporary dance choreographers through New Breed (2014-2025) and the Balnaves Artist in Residence program.
Sydney Dance Company aspires to lead, amplify and support innovation and excellence in contemporary dance. The Balnaves Artist in Residence program embeds one New Breed alumnus choreographer within the company to gain industry experience. The Artist in Residence will be exposed to the complete artistic, production and administrative cycle of a major performing arts company, experiencing all facets including education, governance, programming, marketing and philanthropy.
Beginning in 2024, the inaugural Balnaves Artist in Residence was Jasmin Sheppard (New Breed 2021) followed in 2025 by Raghav Handa (New Breed 2020) and Jenni Large (New Breed 2022) in 2026.
Born from a conversation between Neil Balnaves AO and SDC’s Artistic Director Rafael Boncachela, New Breed (2014-2025) created opportunities for the next generation of choreographers to make their mark. This annual program spotlighted four selected dancemakers to develop an original work under the mentorship of the Artistic Director Rafael Bonachela. Over the 12 years, New Breed has provided 47 choreographers with the opportunity to create forty-nine world-premiere works, with Sydney Dance Company’s dancers delivering 125 performances. New Breed works have been included in ongoing SDC repertoire, for example Wildebeest (New Breed 2014) by Gabrielle Nankivell was refined and presented in SDC’s mainstage season in 2016, followed by performances in North America in 2017 (Boston, New York, Swarthmore and Amherst).
Find out more about Sydney Dance Company here.