Sydney is set to host a significant dance program in January 2027, featuring 11 international works making their Australian premiere. This initiative, part of the Sydney Festival, will bring 174 performers and crew to the city, marking a substantial increase in the festival's dance offering compared to its previous iteration.
A highlight of the program is acclaimed French choreographer Rachid Ouramdane’s 2024 work, Outsider. This performance involves 21 dancers from the Ballet du Grand Théâtre de Genève and four elite athletes, navigating high wires and slack lines to music by Julius Eastman. Outsider will be staged in a newly constructed 720-seat theatre within the recently renovated Cutaway at Barangaroo, marking the first time this space will be used for theatrical performance.
The festival will also feature Christos Papadopoulos’s My Fierce Ignorant Step, a double bill from Chinese choreographer Tao Ye's company TAO Dance Theatre, and a new work by the collective (La)Horde, known for collaborations with artists like Madonna and Rosalía. This marks the first southern hemisphere appearance for Dance Reflections, an international festival supported by Van Cleef and Arpels, which has previously been held in cities including London and New York.
Sydney Festival director Kris Nelson described the event as a “once-in-a-lifetime” opportunity for dance enthusiasts, including Australian debuts from Ouramdane, (La)Horde, and Leïla Ka, who has choreographed for Beyoncé. The program also includes the return of Belgian master Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker with her company Rosas, and a new work from Australian Indigenous and intercultural dance company Marrugeku.
The festival is offering 10,000 A-Reserve tickets across the program at $49, with two works, Trisha Brown’s Roof Piece and Cassiel Gaube’s Soirée d’études, available for free.