Altar/d States is a new Fitzroy dance party that calls its nights services and hands the bar to Nasty Nun.
The first one, Altar/d States: Service 01, takes over sBase on Brunswick Street from 8pm until 10pm on 10 December, a school night.
Sriracha plays to a darkened room through a serious sound system, with the music and lighting plotted together to shift how people on the floor feel. No alcohol is served and no substances are allowed. The official website pitches high-tempo music as a way to calm down, swapping the crystal bowls for a fast beat.
Altar/d States
- 10 December
- 8pm until 10pm (doors 7.40pm)
- sBase, Level 2, 175 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy
- Tickets from $55 plus booking fee
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Why Hayley Rose built it
Founder Hayley Rose has a background in health and science, and spent years travelling and trying whatever she could find, Kundalini yoga and somatic dance included, in search of a night like this. None of it scratched the itch of an actual night out, so she started her own. Her pitch sits between two familiar extremes: the bender that wipes out your weekend, and the cold plunge and red light therapy routine that drains the fun out of everything else. Beat tracked the rise of sober daytime parties in Melbourne’s cafes last year. Rose’s version keeps the night-time slot and the dark room, then wraps up by 10pm.
Melbourne choreographer and movement director Zoee Marsh leads the dance floor, with a body of work covering film, music, advertising and live performance. Her brief on the night is getting people out of their heads and moving. Sriracha shares her high priestess billing, and Nasty Nun pour an alcohol-free drink as the night opens and another as it closes.
Before you go
Doors open at 7.40pm for an 8pm-sharp start, and nobody gets in late. Sneakers are welcome on the floor and heels aren’t. Activewear is fine without going full gym kit, and you’ll need a water bottle but no dance experience. Early-bird tickets are gone, leaving second release at $55 plus booking fee, with a last release at $60.50 to follow. Humanitix offers a payment plan, but there are no refunds.
Service 01 is the first of the series, and the Altar/d States website runs a mailing list for future dates. Its home, sBase, is usually a bright studio with polished floorboards and high timber ceilings, set up for yoga and workshops. Getting up there means two flights of stairs. The room isn’t new to dance music, either: VOS had Brussels DJ Ben Kamal playing there from 4pm until late on 7 November.
For more information, head here.
