Australian contemporary dance company Force Majeure will present their groundbreaking work Already Elsewhere at the Lyon Biennale de la Danse 2006.

Force Majeure is the first Australian dance company ever invited to the prestigious international festival.

They will be performing at the Lyon Biennale, widely regarded as one of the world’s foremost contemporary dance festivals, between Wednesday 13 and Friday 15 September.

More than 600 artists from countries as diverse as Japan, Spain, Brazil, Egypt, Argentina, Canada, Burkino Faso, Germany and the US will perform at 33 venues around Lyon as part of the month-long festival under the artistic direction of Guy Darmet.

Already Elsewhere premiered during the 2005 Sydney Festival where it received rave reviews. The work tells the story of seven people thrown together on the roof of a submerged house, examining the psychology of fear in a post 9/11 world.

The production includes text by Sydney writer Brendan Cowell and sound and music by Paul Charlier, with direction by Force Majeure’s artistic director Kate Champion who also co-choreographed the work with the performers.

The production has been supported by the Australia Council for the Arts, and who are also providing funds to take it to Lyon.