FORM Dance Projects and Riverside Theatres Present That’s Two, Thank You: A festival of duets

That’s Two, Thank You is FORM’s new annual dance festival celebrating the art of the duet. From gladiatorial bombast to the featherweight flirtation, That’s Two, Thank You showcases how two bodies can dance a whole world of stories from the epic to the intimate and back.

Join FORM for a two-week festival of dance duos featuring an exciting and exquisite line-up of local, regional, national, and international dance artists presenting their unique duet performances. 

Common Place is an exhilarating dance duet featuring seasoned Sydney-based performers Omer Backley-Astrachan and Jana Castillo. It tells the story of two individuals coming together through a rite; a ritual; a celebration. Together they ride the edge of chaos. Reaching, swiveling, gripping onto dance as a monumental force of life. At its core, Common Place celebrates fearlessness. 

The Dataset is a cinematic and futurist contemporary dance work by Canberra’s award-winning Australian Dance Party. A reflection on the complex attachment between humanity and data, questioning the implications of system failure on individual identity and collective survival.

Exoticism by Lucky Lartey is an exploration of exotification and contemporary masculinity which delves deeply into the collective lived experience of people with diverse backgrounds. A journey beyond 80s multiculturalism and box ticking. This resistance work reclaims identity in the context of contemporary Australia through deconstructing and reconstructing the notion of what diverse contemporary work should look like in a post-colonial landscape. 

ORIGENES by Spanish choreographer Daniel Navarro Lorenzo is set in a fictional future where the natural world has withered away. ORIGENES offers a poetic exploration of humanity’s fading bond with a planet that no longer thrives. This dance piece captures the bittersweet beauty of a world where life has ceased to grow, leaving behind only memories—nostalgic echoes of “how good it used to be.” 

An Honest Conversation is an hour-long improvised verbal and physical conversation between Wellington choreographer Sacha Copland and a different local Sydney artists each evening. Each conversation only happens once.

The two dancers will talk while dancing for 1 hour attempting to be as honest as possible. Sacha has choreographed more than 20 full length dance theatre works and now she
wants to talk. Sacha also wants to dance. Sacha will try to be honest while she dances and talks.

The festival will conclude with the new Australian duet dance competition DUELS featuring short duet works on Saturday 5 April. DUELS will support artists planning to submit work to FORM’s new partner the Rotterdam International Duet Choreography Competition in the Netherlands. 

Chosen by an industry panel of local and international choreographers, the winning work will receive $2,000 AUD cash, a development residency in IDEA’25 with a second season in IDEA NOW showcase 2025. The audience choice award winner will receive $1,000 AUD cash. 

That’s Two, Thank You will be at Riverside Theatres Parramatta 28 March – 5 April. The more shows you see, the more you save. 1 show is $50, 2 are $80, 3 are $90, and 4 are $100.

Don’t miss this chance to witness the power of partnership on stage. Let’s dance together! Book now.

Omer Backley-Astrachan and Jana Castillo, Photo by Wendell Levi Teodoro