New Creations: Bonachela/Linder

New Creations begins in silence, with a man tethered on a rope held by a female dancer. He circles her jerkily, like a horse on a longe line, gradually speeding up and punctuating his orbit with sudden, desperate escape attempts. This absurdist scene is the gateway into Australian-born choreographer Adam Linder's ‘Are We That We Are,' an exploration of different levels of consciousness.

Linder's piece and ‘6 Breaths,' a work by Sydney Dance Company artistic director Rafael Bonachela, make up the bill for a fascinating night of contemporary dance. Dance aficionados will appreciate the subtleties of both pieces, and the I-think-I-know-what-a-pirouette-is crowd should still find it accessible. That being said, ‘Are We That We Are' might leave some viewers wondering what just happened to them.

A voice-over says at one point, "Reality is too easy to be real." This unsettling idea is nothing compared with the otherworldly images Linder has created. A red glowing light fixture descends to hover a few feet above the stage like a restaurant heat lamp while a couple squirms on the floor beneath it like ants under a magnifying glass. Dancers wearing animal ears and knight's helmets perform like they're at a grotesque Studio 54 dance party. A menacing orgy takes place around a dancer who seems to be demonically possessed.

It's the type of modern choreography that appears to be entirely non-technical, but requires an enormous amount of muscle control and theatrical commitment to pull off. The writhing and rolling is captivating to watch, and the shadowy lighting by Nick Schlieper accentuates every last tendon on the stage. (If you see New Creations for nothing else, see it for the abs. Emily Amisano's are the stuff of myth.) ‘Are We That We Are' is an impressive accomplishment for the 26-year-old Linder.

Bonachela then presents the more traditional ‘6 Breaths,' which was conceived in collaboration with composer Ezio Bosso. Bosso's original score features a piano and six cellos, and is beautifully intertwined with the choreography. With 12 dancers onstage, ‘6 Breaths' is a lot to look at, and viewers will find they often have to choose what to watch –a difficult decision given the sheer athleticism on display. Bonachela throws in plenty of his signature lifts and powerful extensions, but what's most impressive are the marathon segments where dancers mercilessly throw themselves to the ground and back up time after time, justifying the presence of knee pads on some of them.

Some sections fall a little flat - a mechanical male duet in the middle stalls somewhere between a fight and a hug - but the piece as a whole has got the wow-factor, showing off what the SDC dancers can do technically. The digital video interludes by Tim Richardson don't take away from the dancing, as video effects sometimes do, allowing the piece to reach its full, stunning potential. Erin McNulty