RAFAEL BONACHELA is the Artistic Director of the Sydney Dance Company and director of 360˚.

You’ve worked with Kylie Minogue and Tina Turner as well as cutting-edge dance companies, so you aren’t a snob?
I’m a curious person and at the time I didn't want to close any doors. They wanted to move away from traditional pop music dance routines and that’s where I came in. I do approach my commercial work differently. On my own creations I choose all the elements involved, what I want to explore, what I want to say. I see these as two different things done by the same person. I believe a choreographer can one day be working in a pop video and later create a piece of high-quality dance – I don’t see why one should devalue the other as it’s a matter of quality and talent. In fact, such images promote contemporary dance to a wider audience. 

You describe yourself as a “movement junkie”. What does that mean?
I’m a choreographer obsessed with movement in time and space: when you watch one of my works you don’t have to look hard to find the dance. My interest lies in the body, its physicality and its emotional impulses. My focus is then on finding ways of communicating through the body and finding all it can express in terms of life and the human condition – emotions, physicality, sexual impulses and psychological states. Life in an urban 21st-century, globalised world.

Do you have a trademark style?
I do: my style communicates emotional states and relationships through an intensely physical and abstract style of movement. Part of this is developed through collaborations with artists from different media. As a choreographer, I’m known as someone who deals directly with human interactions. This very raw quality also inspires the development of the work itself. Duet-making and more complex interactions between dancers is one of my greatest strengths and this human interaction provokes an emotional response to my work. The resulting work moves away from simplistic repetition, keeping the audience on edge. 

Your work has been called innovative and groundbreaking, so what should Christchurch audiences expect?
360º was conceived as an imaginary city, a multilayered world, where all the performance elements – dance, film, lighting and music – result in an emotional landscape. It was a collaboration with creative director Tony Assness and lighting designer Hugh Taranto, so it's visually arresting.

Is there a story?
360° doesn’t have a narrative thread. I try not to tell people how to think and what to feel. For me, narrative is linked to the themes that inspire me. One of the fantastic qualities of dance is that it allows many viewpoints and should always be open to a degree of interpretation. 

Where did you find your inspiration?
In 360° I used the music as my main source of inspiration. It was the map that I followed to take me into the work. The thought of an imaginary city where the dancers exist and all the places we could explore.

How do you devise pieces? It depends. I don’t have a standard formula. Sometimes, like in 360°, I chose a piece of music or several that served as my map to create the work. Other times I commission original music, so discussions about the concepts to follow that would come first.

Is video important for your choreography?
In 360°, the video projection serves as a backdrop to the dance, to take the audience further into the journey.

You were born and grew up in Spain, will we see any Spanish influences in 360˚?
Not that I’m aware of. I do use a 12th-century Spanish piece of music within the work, that’s about all. My work is not so culturally specific.

You were appointed artistic director of Sydney Dance Company last November and took up the reins in January. Why did you want the job, given you had just launched your own company in London?
Last year I had the fantastic opportunity to create 360° for Sydney Dance Company. I really appreciated having access to such excellent resources and constant support. Sydney Dance Company felt like the perfect environment in which to create work and I could see infinite possibilities and growth for me as an artist and for the company as a leading international voice in dance. Bonachela Dance Company will remain as a project-based dance company

What do you think you bring to the Sydney Dance Company?
A fresh and invigorating perspective to dance in Australia. My aim is to build a strong company with a singular identity and aesthetic. Out of this vision will emerge work that does not belong to anyone else but us.

Rafael Bonachela's 360°
Isaac Theatre Royal
31 July, 7.30pm and 1 August, 1.00pm & 7.30pm