Temperance Hall

Phillip Adams BalletLab at Temperance Hall is the Australian amplifier of experimental dance, performance and art. Temperance Hall champions queer artistic ambition, creating transformative dance and cultural experiences that are open to all.

The most recent performance was held during Midsumma. SICK provides complicated critiques pervading notions and expectations of artists with disability, in an attempt to reframe the debate. Beyond a definition of physical and mental illness, ‘sick’ contains both negative and positive associations. For Ryan, a person with autism, ‘sick’ implies an impulse to act out of the ordinary with his body and thoughts; to arrange things the way he feels and sees them. Phillip and Ryan turn the negative on its head, taking inspiration in the slang connotations of the word ‘sick’ as ‘cool’ or ‘fabulous’.

Established in 1998, Phillip Adams BalletLab (PABL) is a visionary Melbourne based dance company and leader in innovative and experimental Australian dance practice. Led by seminal choreographer and artist Phillip Adams, winner of the 2018 Australia Council Award for Dance, Phillip Adams BalletLab has presented over 20 works in prestigious arts festivals and venues across Australia, Europe, North and South America, and Asia

In November 2016, PABL stepped into a new phase, assuming its position as company in residence at South Melbourne’s historic Temperance Hall (TH). Since then, TH has been vitalised by a range of local independent artists working across dance, theatre and contemporary performance.