GöteborgsOperans Danskompani

Cutting-edge contemporary dance

A Swedish double bill of cutting-edge contemporary dance from the prestigious, forward-thinking GöteborgsOperans Danskompani.

Skid by Damien Jalet 

In Skid, by Belgian and French choreographer Damien Jalet, 17 dancers battle gravity on a vertiginous, 34-degree slope – sliding, swaying, struggling back to the top. Skid is, Jalet says, a “poetics of surrender and resistance” about “the attempt to climb and the fear of falling”.

An incline of 34 degrees tests the limits at which humans can stand upright, so the dancers are quite literally pushed to the edge of their abilities to perform without toppling down the slope.

SAABA by Sharon Eyal 

Then, in Sharon Eyal’s SAABA, an intoxicating dancefloor with pulsating rhythms sees dancers pushing movements to an unearthly extreme.

Eyal is queen of a mysterious universe filled with intelligent life. She draws from the catwalk and club to produce a hybrid choreography, along with Ori Litich’s infectious score, that is entirely distinctive. Wearing flesh-coloured body suits by Dior’s Creative Director Maria Grazia Chiuri, the dancers are on demi-pointe for almost the entire performance, but this is no traditional ballet.  

Eyal, who has been commissioned by the Netherlands Dans Theater, The Paris Opera and more, brings her third GöteborgsOperans Danskompani work to Sydney. 

Skid: 45 minutes – Interval: 40 minutes – SAABA: 45 minutes

"This is dance that makes you marvel... a weird, sensual, unsettling world." – The Guardian on SAABA

"A thrilling fight against gravity." – The Spectator on Skid

Visit the Sydney Festival website for all the details!