Agitato— Jo Lloyd

Presented by Dancehouse, Sydney Dance Company and Australian Dance Theatre as part of ORBIT. 

— Rewriting tragedy

Agitato is an encounter with Fanny Mendelssohn’s largely unknown ‘Allegro molto agitato in D Minor’ (1823), a small jewel buried in the truncated past of a musical career obscured by conventions.

Formal perfection ricochets off fracture and restlessness. Choreographic structures breathlessly assembled and disassembled in a single breath. Delivering a corporeal rather than a historical reflection on the music, Agitato locates order in disorder, with each irate and stormy note in Mendelssohn’s original composition becoming a choreographic instruction vibrating with frenetic energy.

Agitato is a palimpsest of music seen through a contemporaneous mirror, an understanding between women across centuries, made visible and visceral on stage.

Choreographer Jo Lloyd
Dancers Rebecca Jensen, Jo Lloyd, Louie Wisby, Thomas Woodman
Composer Duane Morrison
Costume Designer Andrew Treloar
Lighting Designer Shiv Geaney
Dramaturg Anny Mokotow
Dancers in Original Production Harrison Ritchie-Jones, Lee Serle
Producer of Original Production Michaela Coventry – Sage Arts

ORBIT is a new touring program designed to take independent dance to the next level. Led by Australian Dance Theatre (SA), Dancehouse (VIC) and Sydney Dance Company (NSW), ORBIT will see exceptional independent choreographic works slingshot to multiple cities on a fully supported tour.

ORBIT’s 2026 program will feature Agitato byJo Lloyd, Charcoal by Keia McGrady, [ gameboy ] by Amy Zhang and Future History by Gabrielle Nankivell.

Running the gamut from a poignant mediation on country, an exploration of ingenuity in the face of ecological collapse, a choreographic reckoning with a virtuosic piece of classical music from 1823 and a video game inspired work about our digital lives, ORBIT offers audiences the chance to experience works from artists at the vanguard of contemporary Australian performance.