Poster boy

There is a wall in the studios of the Sydney Dance Company that features giant posters of the shows the company has presented over the past 30 years.

Perth dancer Reed Luplau remembers arriving at the Company last year, walking down the hallway of heroes and hoping he could one day take his place among the immortals.

Just a year later, and at 20 years of age, Reed’s dream has come true. He is featured on the poster for the new show, The Director’s Cut, which celebrates Graeme Murphy’s 30 year reign as the company’s Artistic Director.

Along that wall are the posters of the great shows and great dancers, and that has been such an inspiration for me, Reed says.

Considering how important this show is to the history of the company, it is an honour to be on the poster and I am honoured to have it.

The poster features Reed hanging by his arms, dressed only in shorts as blood streams down one arm. The pose is a scene from one of the three acts in the show, Murphy’s new work Cut. Reed also performs in the two other acts, Gossamer and Glimpses.

The title work, Cut, has him playing an angelic figure who is both tempted and eventually injured by a demonic character who cuts him.

Reed says there is a gay theme running through this act.

There is an attraction between the angel and demon, and how we want each other but can’t be together because he is evil, he says.

But then he ends up violating me and cutting me, which I think might be meant to be him loving me. The whole thing is quite raunchy and sexual.

The Director’s Cut plays at the Sydney Opera House from 27 May -“ 17 June. Bookings 9250 47777.