Rehearsal director Chris Aubrey described Cacti, originally created by Swedish choreographer Alexander Ekman for Nederlands Dans Theater 2, as "a tongue-in-cheek look at contemporary dance".

"Audiences often find it hard to access contemporary art," Aubrey said. "Alexander was trying to get across the point that there isn't one way to experience art – people can experience it any way they want to".

In contrast, Aubrey said, Sydney Dance Company artistic director Rafael Bonachela's Lux Tenebris – Latin for "light in darkness" – was a more serious work.

"There was lots of task work looking through lightness or darkness – light and dark together can have similar or different meanings."

Darkness, he pointed out, was often perceived as negative but it didn't have to be – walking along a lonely street at night could be terrifying, but at home at night in bed it could also be relaxing and conducive to restful sleep. Similarly, light connoted visibility and safety but too much brightness could be searingly painful.

Dancer Sam Young-Wright, 23, originally from Canberra, said Cacti was a witty piece that gave the dancers an opportunity to show off a different side of themselves and both they and the audiences could just enjoy it rather than searching for deeper meanings.

"It doesn't take itself too seriously."

He left Canberra at 18 to study dance at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts and in his third year went on secondment to Sydney Dance Company, where he's worked since. He danced in Canberra with the company for the first time last year.

Fiona Japp, 30, studied dance at Ransley Ballet and Dance Centre on the Gold Coast and in Europe before returning to Australia in 2010. She has performed in Canberra several times with Sydney Dance Company.

Japp said Lux Tenebris was "serious, more emotive in a darker way" than Cacti and an opportunity for some group work and a dynamic physical element.

Lux Tenebris marked Sydney Dance Company's first European co-production in its 47-year history, partnering with the Dresden-Frankfurt Dance Company. Bonachela is in Europe now preparing for that company's premiere performance of Lux Tenebris in September.

CounterMove is making its Canberra debut.

CounterMove is on at the Canberra Theatre until Saturday, May 21 at 7.30pm. canberratheatrecentre.com.au or 6275 2700.