About halfway through Antony Hamilton’s Forever & Ever the curtain drops and, naturally, the opening night audience starts applauding. But the insanely catchy, insistent beat of the music – by Hamilton’s pop-star brother Julian – continues and all of a sudden everyone is clapping in time, clapping and clapping and clapping, long after the curtain has risen again and the dance continues.

Not quite forever and ever, but close.

Forever & Ever premiered in 2018 and was a huge hit. Bringing it back to anchor this triple bill was a smart move in that the audience goes out on a high. It’s not Hamilton’s fault that Forever & Ever puts the other pieces on the program somewhat in the shade.

Jesse Scales (right) in For Ever & Ever. Photo © Pedro Greig/Sydney Dance Company

Forever & Ever is multi-layered, literally. Benjamin Cisterne’s lighting explodes, blooms, flickers and dissipates excitingly and as the show progresses its 16 dancers strip down to reveal briefer, more streamlined garments in what is described as the babushka doll approach of designer Paula Levis. Well, there’s plenty of room beneath the mad-monk robes seen early on and the...