Inspired by the hall’s history of housing meetings of the Emerald Hill Total Abstinence Society, where public testimony was employed to convert others to the movement, Temperance Movement is a new initiative held across four weeks at Temperance Hall that supports choreographers to present new ideas.

Held weekly across September, each iteration of Temperance Movement invites two artists to share their current preoccupations in a supportive, in-progress format — one artist is invited to do so through movement, the other, through speech.

Curated by Dr Brooke Stamp, the series draws on the history of Temperance Hall as a site of public meetings, where speeches, debates, and personal testimonies were used to persuade and mobilise audiences. Reframed within a contemporary choreographic context, Temperance Movement adopts this structure as a way to create space for critical reflection, articulation, and dialogue around choreographic practice.

Positioned between a showing and a forum, each evening offers a platform for artists to test ideas publicly and to contribute to a broader conversation around the conditions, languages, and preoccupations of contemporary movement-based practice.

DATE & TIME Wednesday 2 September
DURATION 2hrs
LOCATION Temperance Hall, Main Hall, 199 Napier Street, South Melbourne
ACCESSIBILITY Temperance Hall's Main Hall is wheelchair accessible.
TICKETS Pay what you can.

Temperance Movement is generously supported by the City of Port Phillip

Contact the host of Temperance Movement #1- Alexander Powers & Hellen Sky