This April, Temperance Hall presents a triple-bill of new solo works that ascribe to media fixation, gender-defining provocations, and a queer exploration of self-identity.
Co-Curated by Temperance Hall Artistic Director, Phillip Adams and Artistic Associate, Luke George, this program features works by three independent Melbourne artists Thomas Woodman, Benjamin Hurley and Pia Lauritz.
Thomas Woodman presents: A dead-end in itself – a contemplation of how to interpret information in a world where the outlets for dispersing such information continue to proliferate.
The work departs from the claim made by artist Chris Burden during Poem for L.A. – a TV advertisement from 1975 – Science has failed / Heat is life / Time kills. A dead-end in itself runs with this claim then turns it inside out, struggling with irresolvable paradoxes.
Thomas Woodman is a Melbourne/Naarm-based dancer and choreographer, who completed a BFA with Honours at the Victorian College of the Arts (2019). He is interested in different philosophical perspectives, human and non-human exchange, the influence of mass media, and the function of imagination in performance and beyond.
As a performer, Thomas has worked with artists such as Russell Dumas, Jonathan Sinatra, Antony Hamilton, Shian Law and Jo Lloyd. He has presented several choreographic works including The Water Disappears Eventually (2019) and Rain (2017), and is currently developing the public performance, we fly together.
Benjamin Hurley presents: UpAndUpAndUpAndUp – never ending spiral of ascension that continuously fires like a loose cannon. Slapstick humour and irrational decision-making envelope a queering of identity in situ.
A bright red-light beams, intensifying its rays upon a lost and scrambling French boy searching for his bearings. Time vacuumed into a vortex of lucid colour, synth techno pop art, slime, looping sketches and a dripping wetsuit draped from the sky. It never ends.
Benjamin is a queer and gender fluid performer, dancer, choreographer and teacher who graduated form the VCA in 2016. Their practice is deeply rooted in collaboration, and they sift through and unpack what these varied and shared experiences mean ‘in the now’.
Their most notable and ongoing collaborations include: Phillip Adams BalletLab, Strange Fruit, Deanne Butterworth, Lee Serle, Victoria Chiu, Emma Riches, Isabelle Beauverd, Arabella Frahn-Starkie, Andrew Treloar and Robert Downie, whom they continue to work with over long durations.
Their work tethers between mundane practicality and philosophical existentialism, layering multiple elements to create fictional, whimsical, playful and intricate choreographies.
Pia Lauritz presents Billy Soy – a dance exploration into Pia’s budding Drag King identity, William Von Soy. “Hey groovers, I’m Billy Soy! Your fave keen (soy) bean silly boy. I’m all about the good vibes… so have a drink – or five – and watch me wiggle my heart out for a live audience!” William Von Soy xx
Piaera Lauritz is a Naarm/Melbourne-based dancer, choreographer and internationally screened filmmaker. Recent performances include Billy Soy: a silly boy at Out of Bounds (facilitated by Temperance Hall and Lucy Guerin Inc), Bodylex by Rhys Ryan, and the role of The Black Cat in A Midnight Visit by Broad Encounters.
Piaera’s dance films have been screened at festivals in eight countries, with her 2019 work (like a) Less Dense Brick winning Best Film at Multiplié Dance Film Festival in Norway, and Softer Terracotta, a 2020 semi-finalist at Dumbo Festival in New York.
“We welcome these three next generation choreographers to Temperance Hall offering a program that presents an intermeshing of experimental, queer and interdisciplinary choreography,” said Phillip Adams, Artistic Director of Temperance Hall.
“Pia, Tom and Benjamin garmented to run amuck with decadence and sophistication, as only Temperance Hall will allow.”
Temperance Hall presents Thomas Woodman, Benjamin Hurley and Pia Lauritz (as Billy Soy)
Temperance Hall, 199 Napier Street, South Melbourne
Season: 7 – 9 April 2022
Bookings: www.humanitix.com
For more information, visit: www.temperancehall.com.au for details.
Image: A dead-end in itself – photo by Emma Riches | UpAndUpAndUpAndUp – photo by J Forsythe | Billy Soy – photo by Caitlin Dear