Sydney Dance Company’s 40 years at the Wharf – in pictures

Sydney Dance Company is marking four decades since it made its home at the Wharf theatres at Walsh Bay. As part of the celebrations, the company is presenting an exhibition in the foyer of its Wharf home, developed in partnership with Museums of History NSW. With photographs, oral histories and archival material, Wharf Stories explores the people, stories and spaces that have shaped the company and the wharf precinct itself

Max Dupain was commissioned in 1987 to photograph the new Sydney Dance Company premises

“There is something very special about making dance in a place like the Wharf. The building was built around movement. Of people, cargo, machinery, everything coming and going. In a different way, that energy is still here today as people come together and move through the studios. There is a beautiful connection between the history of the Wharf and what we do here as dancers.” – Rafael Bonachela, artistic director of Sydney Dance Company.Photograph: Max Dupain/State Library of NSW

Wharf 4-5 under construction, circa 1920

Photograph: State Archives Collection, Museums of History

Graeme Murphy during rehearsals in 1988

Photograph: Branco Gaica/Sydney Dance Company

The Lady Denman ferry passes the wharves, 1970

Photograph: Photographer unknown/City of Sydney Archives

Shane Placentino, Simon Turner and Katherine Griffiths rehearsing for choreographer Stephen Petronio’s production Underland in 2003

Photograph: Sydney Dance Company

An architectural photo of the premises, 1987

Photograph: Max Dupain/State Library of NSW

Charmene Yap and Richard Cilli in rehearsals for choreographer Rafael Bonachela’s production of 2 One Another, 2012

Photograph: Justin Ridler/Sydney Dance Company

Wharfies playing cards, circa 1970

Photograph: Wes Stacey/National Library of Australia

A ballet dance class in Studio 1, 2011

Photograph: Daniel Boud/Sydney Dance Company

The cast of Impermanence, choreographed by Rafael Bonachela, in 2021

Photograph: Pedro Greig/Sydney Dance Company

The Hickson Road entrance to the Wharf, which houses both Sydney Dance Company and Sydney Theatre Company, 2011

“Over the past 40 years, the Wharf has become part of the identity of Sydney Dance Company. The building gives you something as an artist. Its scale, the light, the water outside. All of these things become part of how you think and how you work. With our season of Current, we are inviting audiences into the Neilson Studio to experience a performance from within the spaces where it was created.” – Rafael BonachelaPhotograph: Grant Sparkes Carroll/Sydney Dance Company