Sydney Dance Company Debuts Its First International Work in Six Years, a Piece by Celebrated Spanish Choreographer Marina Mascarell

Spanish-born, Netherlands-based choreographer Marina Mascarell arrived in Sydney eight weeks ago to create a new work for Sydney Dance Company (SDC). She’d visited Sydney once before but was completely stunned by something she hadn’t noticed on her previous trip: the birdlife.

“I was amazed by the birds’ orchestra in the streets, they are so impressive,” she says, her eyes wide. “Our nature [in the Netherlands] is cute, this is magnificent.”

One bird in particular caught her attention: the lyrebird, remarkable for its ability to convincingly mimic not only local wildlife but also unrelated sounds including car engines and crying babies.

So taken was she with the lyrebird and Australian birdsong in general she has incorporated them into her new work, choreographed in collaboration with seven SDC dancers.

Mascarell is one of the world’s sought-after choreographers, renowned for contemporary works with international dance companies including Nederlands Dans Theater, the Lyon Opera Ballet, Dance Forum Taipei and the prestigious Gothenburg Opera Dance Company.

The SDC commission is the last work she’ll create before she moves with her family to Copenhagen in April, where she’s been appointed artistic director of Danish Dance Theatre.

The SDC piece, titled The Shell, a Host, the Ghost & the Lyrebird , debuted in Canberra as part of SDC’s triple bill Ascent, alongside choreographer and Chunky Move artistic director Antony Hamilton’s brilliant Helpmann Award-winning 2018 piece Forever & Ever and an intimate new work, I Am-ness , from SDC artistic director Rafael Bonachela.

The Shell, a Host, the Ghost & the Lyrebird was commissioned by the Sydney Opera House as part of its year-long 50th anniversary celebrations, and Mascarell is the first international choreographer the company has had in six years due to Covid-induced disruptions.

The work explores Mascarell’s ongoing interest in art that (literally) transforms space and has an impact in and on the body. Fascinated by ideas of post-humanism, AI and evolving genetics and machines that may enable us to live longer or in altered forms, Mascarell hopes the work will trigger discussions on those topics.

She collaborated with Sydney multimedia artist Lauren Brincat on the stage design. Brincat created two huge 20-kilogram sails, three cascading diaphanous silks and attached a multitude of ropes and harnesses to the ceiling for dancers to interact with, Mascarell says.

Electronic classical composer Nick Wales is behind the score, which begins with traditional classical instruments against a background of delicate birdsong. Slowly, it becomes more and more electronic and artificial, embodying Mascarell’s fascination with the body’s capacity to transform and its relationship to technology.

“With the narrative of the music audiences will see how bodies and the space transform, ending up [with movement that suggests] a cyber world where technology takes over,” she says. “We are in a moment where we are questioning our history, how we relate to it … Our finite planet and post-humanism. There are a lot of things we need to talk about as a society.”

SDC’s dancers have played an important role in devising the new work. “I think there’s an Australian vibe – they are very strong, very in shape, and extremely fast learners beyond anything you can imagine,” Mascarell says.

It’s thanks to Bonachela, but also composer Wales, that SDC landed Mascarell’s new work. As a dancer with Nederlands Dans Theater, Mascarell visited London to take classes with and get to know Barcelona-raised Bonachela’s eponymous dance company. The pair stayed in touch and Bonachela eventually introduced Mascarell to his regular collaborator, Wales, who she then worked with on shows in Perth and Lyon, France.

“Raf [Bonachela] and I got closer and closer until this happened,” Mascarell says.

“For the last year I’ve been travelling a lot for commissions … I’m a bit tired of travelling but because I see an end I’m enjoying it [in a way] I didn’t for a really long time. I’m having a blast, with the dancers, with everyone involved, with the city.”

Sydney Dance Company’s Ascent runs at Canberra Theatre from March 9-11, then the Sydney Opera House from March 15-26 before touring nationally.

sydneydancecompany.com