A new company of dancers performing a new work by a new artistic director in a new venue backed by a new sponsor – Sydney Dance Company has been completely reinvented. Rafael Bonachela, the man behind that reinvention, and dancer Connor Dowling sat down with Garrett Bithell.

Sydney Dance Company has had a tough couple of years. The retirement of co-artistic directors Graeme Murphy and Janet Vernon after three decades at the helm in 2006 was quickly followed by the tragic death of newly-appointed artistic director Tanie Liedtke the following year. As the company again went on a world-wide search for Liedtke’s replacement, 2008 saw three new works by three guest choreographers make up the season – Meryl Tankard with Inuk 2, Rafael Bonachela with 360⁰, and Aszure Barton with Sid’s Waltzing Masquerade.

In November of last year, it was announced that Bonachela would be the new artistic director. In four short months, he has revolutionised the company – seven dancers were replaced, a new sponsor was secured (Foxtel), and a new venue was found (Sydney Theatre). And next week the final piece of his puzzle will premiere – his debut work as artistic director, we unfold.

“I’m secretly happy,” Bonachela tells SX. “But it’s at that point where you can’t relax because I want to make the best work I’ve ever made and nothing less. So that keeps me on edge.

“And of course there is expectation, but that is where the company should be at.”

That expectation perhaps comes from the immense success Bonachela’s 360⁰ enjoyed last year. Indeed his chemistry with the dancers was undeniable.

“When I came in for 360⁰, I saw dancers that were very hungry – hungry for something different, hungry to dance. What made everything really pronounced was that there had been the same co-artistic directors for 30 years, and then a tragedy. I knew Tania, so I really wanted to do a good job and also inspire the dancers. And by the end, I was really proud of what we had made in eight weeks. I think the whole company was left on a real high.”

Under Bonachela, Sydney Dance Company is moving from a neoclassical dance company to a contemporary dance company. “The arts need oxygen and regeneration and change,” Bonachela asserts. “Dancers that work with me need to have a deep knowledge of classical and contemporary techniques. Before, the company only did ballet.”

For we unfold, Bonachela is choreographing to his first symphony, by Italian composer Ezio Bosso. He has also commissioned Australian brothers, film director Daniel Askill and designer Jordan Askill. “It’s a dance about us,” Bonachela muses. “It’s a dance about us right now; it’s a dance about us opening up – us as a new company facing a new future.”

Bonachela sees courting a new, modern audience as part of that future – and changing people’s perceptions about what contemporary dance can be. “That will happen through the work,” he says. “Through us doing what we’re doing, which is working hard, making exciting choices and inspiring people.”

Connor Dowling, a senior dancer with the company, was ecstatic when Bonachela was appointed. “Out of the three people we had worked with last year, I found his work the most fulfilling,” he tells SX. “So when I heard he was coming in, I was really thrilled about that decision.”

But the troupe is still reeling from Bonachela’s replacement of seven dancers. “It’s all a little bittersweet actually,” Dowling says. “To say the mood has lifted wouldn’t be true because a lot of us are no longer working with some really good friends. It was almost like being in an avalanche at that time – people just kept coming out of the office going ‘I’m gone’. It was pretty horrific.”

Dowling is still getting used to Bonachela’s contemporary, as opposed to neoclassical, dance style. “I’m working on that,” he says. “It’s a bit throwaway sometimes, which I’m not used to. I’m a bit of a stickler for detail – the way you’re holding your arms for example.

That sort of takes a back seat.

“But I’m definitely excited about Sydney Dance Company putting themselves out there – the new company, the new work, the new look. That’s an exciting thing and it’ll be interesting to get feedback.”

we unfold, Sydney Theatre from March 31 – April 11. For bookings visit sydneytheatre.org.au or call (02) 9250 1777.