The Collection
Full-evening performances and shorter works have been edited and digitally remastered/ restored from many video formats, in their entirety. To date, the following programs have been completed: Free Radicals; Grand; Shades of Gray; Mythologia; Tivoli; …
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SYNERGY WITH SYNERGY
A concerto for man, muscle and machine, Synergy with Synergy is an extraordinarily unique and exciting piece of dance. Inspired by the diversity and power of percussion, Graeme Murphy incorporates an exhilarating score from …
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Air and Other Invisible Forces
Air and Other Invisible Forces is essentially a non-narrative work. Graeme Murphy draws his inspiration from the music of Australian composer Michael Askill and Georgian composer Giya Kancheli. Air and Other Invisible Forces takes the …
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BOXES
In this first of two major collaborations with composer and performer Iva Davies (also Berlin in 1995) and the band Icehouse, Graeme Murphy produced a phenomenally successful dance/theatre/rock music extravaganza which quickly filled the Opera …
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Torvill and Dean
Torvill and Dean are English ice dancers and former British, European, Olympic, and World champions. At the Sarajevo 1984 Winter Olympics, Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean won gold and became the highest-scoring figure skaters of all …
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ELLIPSE
This work reunites three distinctive designers with whom Graeme Murphy has closely collaborated throughout the years, including the 1999 production Air and other invisible forces. They are Australian painter and designer Gerard Manion, fashion designer …
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TIVOLI
There was a time when the Tivoli Circuit reigned supreme. This was the home of variety theatre and vaudeville – where dancers, acrobats, comedians and ventriloquists trod the boards and where unclad beauties stood immobile. …
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Fornicon
This 1995 Review by Patricia Laughlin says it all… There has always been a strong element of sexuality in the work of Graeme Murphy. Fornicon continues the theme, taking it somewhat farther than he’s gone …
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SONG OF THE NIGHT
Originaly created in 1987 for the Nederlands Dans Theater in The Hague, Graeme Murphy’s Song of the Night is a non-narrative work based on the music of composer Karol Szymanowski Symphony No 3, Song of …
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BEAUTY and THE BEAST
Beauty and the Beast is an amalgam of serious dance narrative and cabaret theatre/ rock opera (for which the show was originally created in 1993). Inspired by the hypnotic interpretation of the tale as depicted …
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DAPHNIS and CHLOÉ
Originally premiered in 1980 and restaged in 1983 and 1989. Graeme Murphy AO often spoke of how he based his telling of the story of Daphnis and Chloé on the novella by Longus, essentially giving …
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King Roger
Graeme Murphy already had demonstrated a notable rapport with the music of Karol Szymanowski, established first with Shining (1986) and later with Song of the Night (1987). When he decided to adapt the composer’s opera …
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FREE RADICALS
Free Radicals was conceived as an experimental fusion of dance and percussion. Choreographer Graeme Murphy and composer Michael Askill created the music and movement simultaneously in the studio. The result is a witty interplay that …
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The Director’s CUT
The Director’s Cut features three dance works, two choreographed by Graeme Murphy and one by Narelle Benjamin. Graeme Murphy’s CUT was the main Act at 40 min and all were filmed at the Sydney Opera …
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SALOME
Graeme Murphy’s internationally acclaimed Salome is a breathtaking interpretation of the fascinating biblical tale of Salome and her dance of the Seven Veils. Graeme’s sinuous choreography and sly wit coupled with the evocative rhythms of …
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GRAND
Grand is both a celebration and fusion of dance and piano. Close to Murphy’s heart, Grand is dedicated to the life of his mother Betty. Murphy has been greatly influenced by music for piano and …
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SHADES OF GRAY
Inspired by Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray, Graeme Murphy’s Shades of Gray sees the infamous Dorian Gray transported into the world of dance. Receiving its premiere on 25 May 2004 at the Sydney …
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MYTHOLOGIA
Commissioned for the Sydney Olympic Arts Festival, Mythologia takes its inspiration from the heroes of Greek mythology. Inspired in particular by the Greek poet Pindar who named Heracles as the founder of the Olympic Games, …
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EVER after EVER
Graeme and Janet’s farewell tribute was the culmination of a 30 year journey that created Australia’s leading contemporary dance company. Ever After Ever included the world premiere of Short Stories, choreographed to Carl Vine’s Anne Landa Preludes. Graeme’s …
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BERLIN
Graeme Murphy’s BERLIN is an exploration using the city of Berlin as a symbol of decline and resurrection. Seductively theatrical, BERLIN explores the heart and mind of what it is to be human. A hauntingly …
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HUA MULAN
Graeme Murphy’s Hua Mulan was based on China’s legendary tale of a young soldier, the soldier’s family and the twists of fate and circumstances that gave birth to a surprising love story. In the legend, …
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NEARLY BELOVED
“Playing with time and memory has always been a favourite pastime of mine. In Nearly Beloved, the present arrives some twenty years late to find the past still patiently waiting. What might have been becomes …
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Piano Sonata
This 25 min non-narrative contemporary work was devised with dynamic, scenic lighting effects and an intense piano composition by Carl Vine. Drama Theatre, Sydney Opera House, 1992, restaged in 1994. See also Carl Vine interview
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VIRIDIAN
Created in 1979, VIRIDIAN premiered in New York in 1981 with DIALOGUES and DAPHNIS AND CHLOÉ, and was restaged at the Sydney Opera House in 1992. VIRIDIAN takes its name from an evocative score by Australian composer …
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BODY OF WORK – a Retrospective
Body of Work – a Retrospective was both a gala performance at the Sydney Opera House on Saturday 6 May 2000 but a slightly different show was also performed nationally throughout Australia in the same …
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VAST
In 1988, Graeme Murphy was commissioned by the Australian Bicentennial Authority to create Vast, the National Bicentennial Dance Event. Involving seventy dancers from four dance companies – Australian Dance Theatre, West Australian Ballet, the Queensland …
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POPPY – the life and art of Jean Cocteau
Poppy premiered on 12 April 1978 at Sydney’s Theatre Royal and was Graeme Murphy’s first full-length work for Sydney Dance Company (it was later restaged in 1987 and 1991). Performed to a score by Carl …
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KRAANERG
Performed and filmed at the Sydney Opera House in 1988, Kraanerg is about 80 minutes of ceaseless invention on stage from Graeme Murphy, with an intense and entrancing music score by Iannis Xenakis conducted by …
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SOME ROOMS
CHOREOGRAPHER’S NOTE In Some Rooms choreographer Graeme Murphy has chosen four rooms to reflect different aspects of the human outlook. “The character of The Voyager is on a journey of discovery,” explained Murphy before the …
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Shéhérazade
Ravel’s images are more of desire and erotic anguish than the hedonistic passions conjured by the title “Shéhérazade“. This intensely private composer has created an exquisite sensuality out of melancholy – where longing itself threatens …
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Homelands
Choreographer’s Note: A woman, at last in harmony with the harsh Australian environment, recalls her youth in gentler surrounds and the tortured longing she felt before finally recognizing and accepting the strange beauty of her …
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RUMOURS – a trilogy
Graeme Murphy devised Rumours in 1978 (restaged 1979-81) as a three part ode to the city of Sydney. Each part of this trilogy is related to the other by the source of its inspiration – …
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