Dance Chronology

Year Title Choreographer Cast Description

1997 Bar Blu Paul Mercurio Tasdance Part of Tasdance's Passion Fruit series.

1996 dancing with the clown Paul Mercurio Sydney Dance Company  

1996 Masterplan Paul Mercurio Sydney Dance Company  

1994 In-side-Out
image
Paul Mercurio ACE A dance work performed at Vaucluse House, Sydney.

1993 Imprint Paul Mercurio, Jan Pinkerton, Stephen Page, Caroly Hammer ACE  

1992 Jesus Christ, Superstar Paul Mercurio Australian Cast The 1992 Australian production of Andrew Lloyd Weber's Jesus Christ Superstar with John Farnham and Angry Anderson.

1992 Contact
Paul Mercurio ACE Developed especially for the company's inaugural season, Contact was a piece about the journey of self-discovery we all make as human beings.

1992 Edgeing Paul Mercurio Sydney Dance Company Innovative piece performed on in-line skates.

1992 Piano Sonata Graeme Murphy Paul Mercurio Piano Sonata is an abstract work to a commissioned score which is played live on stage during the ballet. Costumes are by Jennifer Irwin, lighting design by Roderick van Gelder. This live performance was filmed by the ABC.

1991 Emotional Disconnection Paul Mercurio Spring Dance Collection  

1991 Looking for Rhythm Paul Mercurio University of Western Sydney, Nepean Dance  

1991 Poppy Graeme Murphy Graeme Murphy, Janet Vernon and artists of Sydney Dance Company 'Poppy' examines through dance aspects of the life of Jean Cocteau. It includes reference to his childhood, his schoolfriends, his activities with Diaghilev's Ballet Russe and his involvement with opium taking. This recording was made for SBS Television. General note: 'Poppy' Graeme Murphy's first full-length work. It premiered in 1978.

1991 Soft Bruising Graeme Murphy Sydney Dance Company Abstract dance work. Alludes to love, the heart, blood pumping through the veins and other notions symbolically connected to the colour red.

1990 Moment of Choice Paul Mercurio National Capital Dancers  

1990 Company of Wo/Men Paul Mercurio Sydney Dance Company  

1990 King Roger Graeme Murphy Paul Mercurio, Ross Philip, Janet Vernon, Alfred Williams (Taahi) and artists of Sydney Dance Company A narrative work that recounts an episode in the life of King Roger, twelfth century ruler of Sicily. Features Ross Philip as King Roger, Janet Vernon as his wife Roxana, Paul Mercurio as Edrisi his sage and Alfred Williams (Taahi) as the Shepherd. General note: The dance work is set to the opera 'King Roger' by Karol Szymanowski.

1989 Cafe Paul Mercurio,
Kim Walker
Sydney Dance Company Produced for Australian Broadcasting Company, Cafe is based on the choreographers' experiences in a Darlinghurst coffee shop.

1989 Daphnis and Chloe Graeme Murphy Vicki Attard, Paul Mercurio, Ross Philip, David Prudham, Janet Vernon, Kim Walker and artists of Sydney Dance Company A danced version of the Greek story of Daphnis and Chloe. Chloe is danced by Vicki Attard, Daphnis by David Prudham and Cupid by Paul Mercurio. General note: Murphy first made this piece in 1980. This version was made in 1989.

1989 Song of the Night Graeme Murphy Sydney Dance Company  

1989 Waiting Paul Mercurio Sydney Dance Company  

1989 Dancing With I Paul Mercurio Paul Mercurio  

1988 Vast Graeme Murphy, Paul Mercurio Sydney Dance Company A Bicentennial dance event choreographed by Graeme Murphy on dancers from the Australian Dance Theatre, Sydney Dance Company, The Queensland Ballet, West Australian Ballet Company. The sections of the work are each inspired by different aspects of the Australian landscape.

1988 Kraanerg Graeme Murphy Janet Vernon and artists of Sydney Dance Company A contemporary, abstract dance work. Costumes by Jennifer Irwin, set design by George Freedman, lighting by John Drummond Montgomery, music by Iannis Xenakis. General note: Murphy talks about making this work in an oral history interview, TRC 2680, held in the National Library of Australia.

1987 Duo for Two Boys Paul Mercurio Sydney Dance Company Risks Season  

1987 Two Men and One Woman Paul Mercurio Sydney Dance Company Risks Season  

1986 Sirens--Madonna Section Paul Mercurio Sydney Dance Company  

1986 Boxes Graeme Murphy Sydney Dance Company Boxes was conceived by Iva Davies, Bob Kretschmer and Graeme Murphy as a dance work which was first performed by the Sydney Dance Company at the Sydney Opera House on November 7, 1985.

1986 Tabula Rasa Ohad Naharin Sydney Dance Company  

1985 After Venice Graeme Murphy Paul Mercurio, Janet Vernon, Garth Welch and artists of Sydney Dance Company A work that examines in dance the psychological motives of the main characters in Thomas Mann's novella, Death in Venice. Paul danced the role of a the young Polish boy, Tadzio.

1984 Black and Blue Louis Falco Paul Mercurio  

1984 Some Rooms Graeme Murphy Susan Barling, Tonia Kelly, Paul Mercurio, Ross Philip, Janet Vernon and artists of Sydney Dance Company The four sections of this piece take place in four different rooms - the bedroom, the bathroom, the changing room and the reading room. The rooms are metaphors for inner spaces of the mind. In the bedroom the voyager dances out fantasy of an idealised love, in the bathroom he becomes the object of another’s fantasy, in the changing room he encounters conflicts of sexuality and in the reading room he gains a perspective on the relationship between the physical and the spiritual. First performed in 1983.