Sunday Arts Magazine

26 May 2017

Interview: Phillip Adams re background,BalletLab &Temperance Hall

Arts, Dance, LGBTIQ, Performing Arts, Theatre, Visual Arts

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Interview: Phillip Adams re background,BalletLab &Temperance Hall

The extraordinary Phillip Adams is a choreographic and visual artist and is the Founder and Artistic Director of BalletLab. He chats to Brendan and Neil about his very interesting background including– how he became a ballet dancer via an accident, doing back-up dancing on the Mike Walsh Show and for Kylie Minogue’s video for the song Locomotion, and the invaluable experience he had learning his craft in the ‘dance capital of the world’- New York-where he stayed for 10 years.

Phillip returned to Australia and continued dancing while working more towards becoming a choreographic artist. He talks about this, the dance companies at the time and the beginnings of BalletLab and its boundary pushing choreography and performances. It sits ‘somewhere between experimental performance art and visual art practice’.

Phillip then talks about how BalletLab has evolved since it started in 1999, and how the organisation was revitalised in 2015 when he secured the historical building Temperance Hall in South Melbourne. He considers it a ‘life-changing’ occurrence and talks in detail about creating an interdisciplinary arts space at the Hall and also supporting queer culture. He also talks about patronage, supporting young emerging artists, having an experimental space, a political space and a legacy for Victoria.