Temple of Desire by Karma Dance | 4-5 Oct 2024

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Temple of Desire
4 to 5 October 2024
at Malthouse Theatre for Melbourne Fringe
Enter the Temple of Desire, an imaginary sanctum where mystery and intrigue allure us to indulge in the spiritual and the sensual all at once!
In this visually stunning dance-theatre work, 16 dancers draw from their training in the classical Indian dance form of Bharatanatyam to rediscover a pre-colonial world where the divine and the sensual unite with splendour and power. A celebratory world where pleasure and joy (കാമ / kāma) are not maligned but are pathways to liberation (മോക്ഷ / mōksha).
Anchored in a moving acknowledgement of culture, tradition, colonial loss, and gendered oppression, Temple of Desire is an uplifting journey that embraces alternative histories and liberatory futures. Teeming with tradition, yet subversive and unbound, this captivating journey leads us to a place of profound beauty, euphoria, joy and human understanding.
Directed by Govind Pillai, Temple of Desire is Karma Dance’s new full-length ensemble work, following a decade of acclaimed and award-winning duet and solo works by both Govind Pillai and Raina Peterson: Sūtra (2011), In Plain Sanskrit (2015), Bent Bollywood (2018), Third Nature (2019), Kāla (2019), Drishti (2020), Narasimha (2022), and Mohini (2023).
Stick around (or come again!) on closing night where the final performance rolls into ‘Temple of Desire: The Party!’. DJ Goddess Naavikaran will spin the decks into the night, playing epic and unprecedented remixes of pop, carnatic and Bollywood faves with deconstructed club music. Revel as Temple of Desire artists and audiences take over the Malthouse foyer together in one final uplifting celebration of our histories, futures, dreams and desires. A collective liberation.
Performed by: Sahithi Chintakunta, Neptune Henriksen, Veena Kadayaprath, Jaya Karan, Govind Pillai, Divya Raghavan, Ramya Raghavan, Saranya Saravanan, Sangeeta Sathyanath, Davina Shaji, Ambika Arjuna, Divya Shreejit Kumar, Aparna Subramaniam, Arul Subramaniam, Archana Subramaniam, Sindusa Wignarajan
Karma Dance is:
WINNER - Best Dance & Physical Theatre, Melbourne Fringe (2020)
WINNER - Best Visual / Digital Design, Green Room Awards (2024)
WINNER - Innovation in Culturally Diverse Practise, Melbourne Fringe (2020)
NOMINEE - Green Room Awards (2022 and 2024)
NOMINEE - Australian Dance Awards (2020)
Reviews of prior works:
“the sinuous beauty and strength of the classical Indian dance lexicon
- Dance Informa
“stunned by the breathtaking performance. Truly mesmerising” - The Age
“graceful, elegant” - The Conversation
“a deep archive of movement that transcends” - Dance Informa
“symbolic, powerful…relevant and courageous” - Indian Sun
“joyous, sensuous and vulnerable” - Indian Link
“a fantastic celebration of bodies, histories, human emotions,” - Peril Magazine
Trailer By: Solo Captures
Set Design: Jonathan Fae
Lighting Design: Max Woods