Grit. Pressure. Evolution. It’s time to test your mettle.
METTLE is a bold, visceral work for a new generation - a dark, immersive descent into challenge, pressure and transformation.
Set within the brutalist landscape of a cavernous concrete bunker, METTLE builds a world of intensity and evolution. Through physically demanding choreography, a striking visual environment and a gritty soundscape, the ensemble journeys from overwhelm and instability toward connection, discipline and self-determined strength.
METTLE is a powerful statement from the next generation of Australian contemporary performance: fearless, physically charged and alive with the voices and bodies of young artists who are already shaping the future.
“A landmark work for Quantum Leap Australia... contemporary, urgent
and artistically ambitious.
The future of Australian contemporary performance is already here.”
Image Credit: O&J Wikner Photography
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Premiere season
24-26 July 2026
The Vault - Dairy Road Precinct, Canberra
FUNDING
QL2 Dance is supported by the ACT Government through artsACT.
SUPPORTERS
Credits
-
Artistic Director Alice Lee Holland
Choreographers Alice Lee Holland and Jack Ziesing
Artistic Associate Jahna Lugnan
Sound Design Sascha Budimski
Visual Design Liam Budge
Costume Design Aleisa Jelbart
Lighting Designers Alice Lee Holland, Jack Ziesing, Ninian Donald and Owen Davis
-
Paige Caddaye, Mieke Clode, Chloe Curtis, Maya Farrall, Juliette Feerick, Maya Hughes Brownell, Ahlia Jesu-Koehler, Jahna Lugnan, Anna Maksimova, Una Miletic, Reuben Reynolds, Charlie Thomson, Delphi Uzubalis.
Quantum Leap would like to thank Maja Sejerson for her early contributions to the creative development of METTLE.
-
Production Manager Ninian Donald
Technical Manager Owen Davis
Design Rob Clode, limegreentangerine
Photography Olivia Wikner, OJ Wikner Photography
Documentation Creswick
Cast Trainer Jason Pearce
Secondment Student Carmen Whitmore, West Australian Academy of Performing Arts