The Sydney Dance Company’s CounterMove explores luminescence and life, humour and darkness in a double bill that celebrates the exhilaration and physicality of some of Australia’s finest dancers.

From Swede Alexander Ekman – one of the world’s most exciting choreographers – comes a hilarious, affectionate tribute that parodies modern art: Cacti. Ekman’s witty and energetic piece, employing the full Company and a string quartet, will take you in with a knowing wink, then surprise with its bracing physicality.

Time Out Sydney lauded Cacti for its ‘infectious playful energy and absolutely incisive wit’. Crikey.com called it ‘blindingly brilliant’ and the Daily Telegraph noted the audience’s laughter was ‘impossible to suppress’.

Rafael Bonachela’s world premiere, Lux Tenebris, provides the perfect contrast: it is a deeply emotional exploration of light, darkness and beauty emerging from a dusky sonic landscape by composer and long-term Sarah Blasko collaborator Nick Wales.