Sydney Dance Company's Rafael Bonachela Gets Spirited Away In His Latest Work

The career of Sydney Dance Company artistic director, Rafael Bonachela, is a true Cinderella story. Originally from humble working class roots in provincial Spain, he was largely self-taught as a dancer, only beginning his formal training at the unusually advanced age of 15. Tenacious, charismatic, gifted with a rare natural aptitude for movement and spurred on by ironclad determination, Bonachela travelled to London in the early 1990s, to advance his studies as a dancer and hopefully establish himself as an artist on the rise. This dream was not easily realised; money was scarce and competition to be recognised fierce. Life for Bonachela in his first decade as a professional dancer was not always easy, but every good Cinderella story has a fairy godmother, and Bonachela boasts one of the starriest imaginable: Kylie Minogue.

"She truly was the first person before anyone else in the dance world to believe in me. I know that sounds cheesy, but it's true," he explains with his characteristic Mediterranean flair. "I was not earning my living as a choreographer until Kylie decided to take a huge risk on me. I was only a little bit known in the contemporary dance world at the time, but I was no one in the commercial dance world. I had a hunger to be a choreographer, of course, but whether or not I would have ever been able to make that my career if it wasn't for Kylie, I really don't know. I owe her a lot."

"I had a hunger to be a choreographer, of course, but whether or not I would have ever been able to make that my career if it wasn't for Kylie, I really don't know. I owe her a lot."

This pivotal collaboration with Australia's princess of pop came after Kylie's creative director, William Baker, saw by chance one of Bonachela's earliest works, Linear Remains, in a performance by renowned British dance company, Rambert. Baker was in the process of devising a radical overhaul of Kylie's image, to elevate her from the cookie cutter melee of '90s pop acts and define her as a visionary style icon for the new millennium. Bonachela was recruited to choreograph the most ambitious and technically complex production Kylie had ever mounted, her revolutionary Fever tour, in 2002. The talented young choreographer's moves, with their sharp angles and sleek, sensual dynamism, went from being seen by just a few hundred people to delighting hundreds of thousands of screaming fans all over the world.

Since this career springboard, Bonachela has come a long way and he is now considered one of the most exciting figures in modern dance. During his tenure, Sydney Dance Company has cemented its reputation as a major player on the world dance stage. Australia's flagship dance troupe has toured to Italy, China, Germany, the US, Spain, London and South America since Bonachela took the reins of the company in 2008, and they have also earned an impressive haul of gongs including no less than five Helpmanns at the 2015 awards alone, including Best Dance Production and Best Choreography for Bonachela's Frame Of Mind.

He has produced two more critical smash-hits since then — Triptych, set to the music of British composer Benjamin Britten and Lux Tenebris, a collaboration with Aussie songwriter Nick Wales. Consequently, expectations are sky-high ahead of the premiere of his 15th major work for SDC, Anima, part of the company' s upcoming Untamed double bill. The piece is an exploration of the spirit and the soul, featuring videography by Clemens Habicht, known for his music videos for Bloc Party, Tame Impala and Flume, and a classical score by Grammy Award-nominated Bulgarian composer, Dobrinka Tabakova.

"Strings really do it for me," Bonachela shares as we talk through his latest creation. "For some reason, I feel really connected to the sound. The way that I like to work, I go through many different colours, different sensations, different feelings, so the music has to share that energy and drive. It has to share those emotions and passions, and this piece [Dobrinka's Concerto For Cello And Strings] has that light and shade to it. The first time I heard it, I immediately thought, 'My God. This is amazing.'"

Music has often been a powerful muse for Bonachela, but as his profile as a dance maker has grown, so too has demand for his productions. Summoning inspiration is no longer a luxury that can be waited for. Bonachela attributes his reliably prolific creativity to the intimate relationship he shares with his dancers. "I love being in the studio. I have people that really know me and know my work and my approach, so there's a really open environment where I can be confident."

Pressure to deliver high-quality work on a tight schedule has become par for the course for Bonachela, but this hasn't dampened his artistic curiosity or his desire to experiment. "Creation doesn't just happen. I need to push myself to stay inquisitive," he shares. "In Anima, for example, there's a section we've been working on which is really full-on, high energy: we're calling it Fearless Flying. It's going to be different from anything I have done before, but I can only explore that new language because I have the confidence of working with these dancers. It allows me to be myself, be inspired. It brings trust, it brings the knowledge of what we have built together but also, you know, a willingness to find out more. Otherwise, we'd all get pretty bored."

Sydney Dance Company presents Untamed at the Roslyn Packer Theatre, Sydney, 18 — 29 Oct.
SDC's 2017 season is also now on sale.