A ballet based on the music of INXS will premiere at the Home of the Arts on the Gold Coast, but it may be darker than fans expect.
The 65-minute dance piece, a collaboration between the Queensland Ballet and HOTA (Home of the Arts), will premiere in September at the Surfers Paradise venue.
Titled Elegantly Wasted, it has the stamp of approval from INXS founding member and songwriter Andrew Farriss, and will feature choreography from Belgian-Colombian dancemaker Annabelle Lopez Ochoa.
Lopez Ochoa’s ballet Coco Chanel: The Life of a Fashion Icon, about the controversial couturier, was a sellout for Queensland Ballet in 2024.
Farriss said it was exciting to see INXS music from a new perspective.
“This ballet is a fresh artistic interpretation that stands in its own space. It’s not about the band’s story, but shows how our music can inspire new forms of expression,” he said.
Lopez Ochoa said the opportunity to reinterpret the songs of INXS through ballet was “unlikely” but irresistible.
“Elegantly Wasted is set within the polished anonymity of a luxury hotel lobby and follows a group of impeccably dressed young influencers drifting in and out of view, curating their lives through performance, projection and validation,” she said.
“Beneath the glamour, seduction and excess lies a deeper meditation on identity, loneliness and the human desire to connect.”
The choice of title suggests the ballet’s themes may not reflect the highs of the band’s career.
Elegantly Wasted is named after the 10th INXS studio album and the last with singer Michael Hutchence before his death in a Sydney hotel room in 1997.
The new production is part of a three-year partnership between Queensland Ballet and HOTA, supported by Experience Gold Coast, and comes after last year’s premiere of Garry Stewart’s Elastic Hearts, a ballet based on the music of Sia.
Experience Gold Coast head of arts and culture John Kotzas said Elegantly Wasted was commissioned with the desire for the Gold Coast to premiere “new Australian ballets that tell new Australian stories”.
“How fantastic is it that one of Australia’s most exciting and successful pop bands [will be] put to ballet?” he said.
“HOTA’s role is to reflect the community that it serves. We want audiences to come here and have a good time, but we also want to tell an Australian story that makes us all feel a sense of pride.”
INXS formed in Sydney in 1977 and sold 75 million albums in a career lasting until 2012.
Interest in the band has resurged recently, and they were honoured with the Ted Albert Award at this year’s APRA Awards for their outstanding service to Australian music.
In 2025, their song Never Tear Us Apart was voted number one in the Triple J Hottest 100 Australian Songs.
Elegantly Wasted plays at HOTA from September 10-12.
Get alerts on significant breaking news as happens. Sign up for our Breaking News Alert.
Nick Dent is a Culture Reporter at Brisbane Times, covering arts, entertainment and things to do in the city.Connect via email.
