SWAN LAKE / LOCH NA HEALA Makes Australian Debut at the Sydney Opera House

The Sydney Opera House today announced that the acclaimed Irish work, Swan Lake / Loch na hEala, will make its Australian debut at the Sydney Opera House in August, direct from European stages.

Straddling theatre, movement and live music, Swan Lake / Loch na hEala is a bold reimagining of one of ballet's most popular stories by acclaimed choreographer, director and Sadler's Wells Associate Artist, Michael Keegan-Dolan.

Keegan-Dolan's Swan Lake / Loch na hEala transports audiences to the heart of the Irish Midlands, where ancient mythology and the modern world collide, and the Irish legend of the Children of Lir melds with this classic tale.

The story, rich in mystery and folklore, is elevated by a hauntingly beautiful soundscape by Dublin-based trio Slow Moving Clouds.

Sydney Opera House, Head of Contemporary Performance Danielle Harvey says: "Swan Lake / Loch na hEala is a valiant, visionary work. It's daring, funny, astoundingly expressive and it typifies the kind of brave, genre-straddling work the new Contemporary Performance area at Sydney Opera House has been established to present. It is a work tailor-made for people who like theatre, movement, music and storytelling that is complex and enlarges your perspective."

Australian audiences will be familiar with Keegan-Dolan's productions of Giselle (Sydney Festival 2010) and Rian (Sydney Festival 2013), ground-breaking works that infused well-known stories with an explosively contemporary energy.

Keegan-Dolan's company, recently transformed as Tea? Da?sa, brings 13 world-renowned performers - including actor Mikel Murfi (The Walworth Farce, Sydney, 2010), and Elizabeth Cameron Dalman OAM, founder of Australian Dance Theatre - to the Drama Theatre stage for a raw, cathartic and joyful experience.

With thanks to Tour Sponsor Culture Ireland.

Contemporary Performance at Sydney Opera House

Contemporary Performance at Sydney Opera House presents the latest in contemporary dance, circus, magic, comedy, musicals and cabaret. It champions brave, genre-straddling work and the reinvention and reinterpretation of classic art forms.

In recent years the Opera House has featured preeminent international contemporary dance companies - including Akram Khan, Sylvie Guillem, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, DV8 and the Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company. The Opera House has staged hit new musical theatre productions including Heathers: The Musical as well as modern adaptations of the classics, such as Sweet Charity. Summer is the season for circus, magic and cabaret. Large scale spectaculars, such as The Illusionists and Circus 1903, fill the Concert Hall and late-night variety shows like Club Swizzle, La Soirée, Barbu and Blanc de Blanc play before packed houses in the Studio.