Karma Dance Inc Temple of Desire

  • LGBTQI
  • Dance
  • Studio
  • Run time: 50 minutes, no interval Subject to change

Enter the Temple of Desire: where the sensual meets the sacred

Fresh from award-winning, sold-out seasons in Melbourne and Toronto, 16 dancers beckon us into a visually stunning world of beauty and desire. Drawing from their training in the classical Indian dance form of Bharatanātyam, they 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 forbidden but are pathways to liberation (മോക്ഷ / mōksha).

Anchored in a moving acknowledgement of 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, it leads us to a place of beauty, euphoria, joy and deeper human understanding.

Sumptuous and unapologetically queer, Temple of Desire is performance as resistance: intimate, urgent, and alive with beauty and joy.

Temple of Desire builds on a decade of acclaimed, boundary-shifting dance by Karma Dance including In Plain Sanskrit (2015), Bent Bollywood (2018), Third Nature (2018), Kāla (2019), Narasimha (2022), and Mōhini (2023).

And on closing night, the temple transforms.

The final performance (closing night) flows straight into Temple of Desire: The After Party and you’re invited! DJ Goddess Naavikaran will bathe the Sydney Opera House foyer in remixes of pop, Carnatic, Bollywood and deconstructed club. Join performers and the audience for one final celebration of our histories, futures, dreams and desires: a collective liberation!

Karma Dance is:

WINNER - Best Visual / Digital Design, Green Room Awards (2024)
WINNER - Best Dance & Physical Theatre, Melbourne Fringe (2020)
WINNER - Innovation in Culturally Diverse Practice, Melbourne Fringe (2020)
NOMINEE - Australian Dance Awards (2020)
NOMINEE - Outstanding Choreography, Greenroom Awards (2024)
NOMINEE - Green Room Awards (2022 and 2024)

Temple of Desire’s national and international tours have been made possible by Creative Australia, Creative Victoria, Melbourne Fringe and patrons of Karma Dance.

Presented by Karma Dance Inc

Event details

Stunned by the breathtaking performance. Truly mesmerising

The Age

Brown bodies and histories celebrated

Arts Hub

Finesse and synchronicity…an explosive visual richness. Radically different

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

Credits

Director and Choreographer: Govind Pillai

Performers
Arulselvam Subramaniam
Divya Shreejit Kumar
Divyamahishi Raghavan
Govind Pillai
Jaya Karan
Neptune Henriksen
Ramya Raghavan
Sahithi Chintakunta
Sangeeta Sathyanath
Saranya Saravanan
Sindusa Wignarajan
Veena Kadayaprath
Yashvi Jaswal

Lighting Design: Max Woods
Set Design: Jonathan Fae
Producer: Manjusha Manjusha
Sound Production: Adrian van Raay 
Image: James Henry

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Attending this event

Plan your visit

Address

Sydney Opera House
Bennelong Point
Sydney NSW 2000
Australia

Getting to the venue

The Opera House is a 7-10 minute walk from Circular Quay, and is easily accessible by car, train, ferry, lightrail, bus, bike and on foot.

Location and access

Studio

The Studio is located in the north-western corner of Sydney Opera House, best accessed through the Western Foyers.

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