New Breed 2025 (Sydney Dance Co) ★★★★

Choreographed by Emma Fishwick, Ngaere Jenkins, Ryan Pearson & Harrison Ritchie-Jones. Sydney Dance Company. Carriageworks. Dec 3-13, 2025.

Farewell New Breed. Long Live New Breed. This may be the final annual instalment of Sydney Dance Company’s showcase of the next generation of choreographic talent, but its influence will be felt for some time yet. The four new pieces in this year’s show mix whimsy and imagination with athletic stamina.

The first piece, Ryan Pearson’s Save Point, is a trip back to childhood. Inspired by computer games (hence the title) and long days spent playing outside, inventing entertainment as only a child can, Save Point feels like a pleasant memory you can return to on loop.

Second is Ngaere Jenkins’ From the Horizon Thereafter, the most successful piece of the evening for me. This lyrical work takes six dancers and moulds them like clay. As movement washes over the group in both gentle and coercive ways, a haunting sense of loss and beauty lingers.

Emma Fishwick’s marathon-o-marathon is third, and is perhaps the most unusual. Fishwick uses a variety of incongruous props — from a knight’s helmet to a cardboard cut-out unicorn and a bag of oranges — to liken humanity’s seemingly uphill battle with climate collapse to a never-ending marathon. At times amusing and at times exhausting, this was the most “message-forward” performance of the show.

The programme wraps up with the funny and athletic Pigeon Humungous by Harrison Ritchie-Jones. Casting us into a post-apocalyptic future of pigeon–human hybrids battling for position in the social hierarchy, it’s a bolt of energy with moves that blend dance, martial arts, acrobatics and more. Its wilful silliness and playful genre trappings made for a truly entertaining finale.

Each piece is supported by excellent lighting by Alexander Berlage and costumes by Aleisa Jelbart.

After twelve years of showcasing new talent — and the dancers of the SDC company — it’s a shame to lose New Breed from Sydney’s dance calendar. But times change, and the talent we’ve seen will no doubt go on to produce work well into the future. Grab a ticket to one of the remaining shows and celebrate the great work we’ve all seen.