Dance, Contemporary dance

Dance hitlist

Everything Must Go, Flhip Flhop: Everything Happens on the Break, Michael Clark, Scottish Ballet, Zeitgeist

Let's Dance: Michael Clark Company

With Bowie on the soundtrack, Clark's new work is the flagship show of the EIF's dance programme

When you’re the closest thing the dance world has to a household name, every word you say, work you create and mistake you make is documented and kept for posterity. Despite turning 47 in June, Michael Clark is still dogged by the term ‘enfant…

New Art Club

Balletic musings on the meaning of ‘now’

Tom Roden was 13 when the compilation Now That’s What I Call Music was released back in 1983. He and his girlfriend broke the law by taping it on cassette from the vinyl. That year, Tom was a goth. He was also a New Romantic, a breakdancer, a mod, and a…

Myriad

Dancing inside the mind

Following last year’s successful debut, Interrupt, Collisions Dance is back with its new production, Myriad. Quirky and contemplative, it explores notions of selfhood in relation to modern day alienation, and the internalised worlds we so often find…

Spectrum

Late-night telly turns hip hop fantasia

The old BBC 2 test card – yes, that one, with the little girl and the clown – is a bit of a strange premise to build a whole hip hop show around, but London’s Avant Garde Dance has managed to make it work. One dancer plays the girl, the others just…

Four Quarters

Contemporary dance in shooter form

Tired after days of mediocre Fringe shows? Proceed directly to Zoo and ingest these four sharp little shots of contemporary dance performance. The magnetic Isobel Cohen, who curated the show and appears in three of the works, starts things off by…

Elvis Still My Heart

No, Elvis has definitely left the building

Louise Barrett is a fantastically talented physical performer. You can’t take your eyes off her. In spindly ‘spinster’ Agnes, subliminating repressed sexuality into an obsession with the King, his eroticised pelvic flicks translated into nervous…

A Lot of Nerve

Cabaret in a world of its own

Picture the scene – you and your friends have had a bit too much to drink, you shimmy over to the stereo, pick out a choice tune and turn your living room into a bespoke cabaret joint. Great fun, but when morning comes, you’re well aware that nobody…

The Chair

Family, death and narrative dance

Over the past couple of years, Zoo Venue has got increasingly good at giving opportunities not only to the most interesting international dance companies, but exciting younger companies from the UK. In that slot this year is C-12 Dance Company…

Still Breathing

Hip hop and contemporary melting pot

If there’s one thing that’s consistent about 2FaCeD DaNcE Company, it’s that it is never the same twice. Each year, the Hereford-based company heads to the Fringe with yet more ammunition in its belt. What started life as a fairly humble youth project…

Dance Hitlist

All the shows that have got The List moving

Capoeira Knights: The Boys from Brazil, Circa, Flhip Flhop: Everything Happens on the Break, Still Breathing, Tap Kids

Lola: The Life of Lola Montez

Biographical flamenco drama

During the 19th century, Irish-born Lola Montez plied a career as an unlikely Spanish dancer across Europe, Australia and the US while bedding the likes of King Ludwig I of Bavaria along the way. Her story is one of scandal and celebrity. ‘Lola is a…

Flhip Flhop: Everything Happens on the Break

Breakdance in overalls

Bursting onto the hip-hop scene with their first fully fledged production as Rannel Theatre Company, Joey D and Matt Bailey make their Fringe debut with a show that came about after a chance encounter in a night club. Working as a DJ, Bailey approached…

Edinburgh Mela

Edinburgh's most multicultural festival

The 15th Edinburgh Mela is something of a milestone for the massive multicultural music, art, theatre and food festival celebrating Asian Scottish culture, and not just because it is returning to its original home of Pilrig Park. ‘This year, we’re…

Dance Base

Scotland’s National Centre for Dance in the Grassmarket is always a hotbed of diverse movement – but this year it has excelled itself. In this first round of Fringe excitement (there’s more to come later in the month), it is offering ten individual…

Norman Douglas & Company

CONTEMPORARY DANCE Norman Douglas isn’t afraid to do his homework. As part of the research for his new triple-bill, the Glasgow choreographer has been digesting some pretty heavy stuff, including a tome on critical theory. ‘It’s taken me a year to…

Why Hip Hop show Breakin' Convention has the original spin

In May 2007, hip hop came to Edinburgh. A laughable comment for those already immersed in the scene, but for many people it was the start of a beautiful friendship. Having taken London by storm every year since 2004, Breakin’ Convention finally branched…

Dance Film 09

Following its debut in 2007 Dance: Film is back with a packed season of screenings, talks and workshops to get you up en pointe with excitement. The ten-day festival, jointly run by Dance Base and the Filmhouse, features classics like Swing Time, the…

Junk Ensemble: Drinking Dust

The subjectivity of memory is fertile ground for experimental work. A delicately treasured memory in one person can, if artfully enough conveyed, provoke a parallel experience in others. Ireland’s Junk Ensemble – the core of which is two sisters, Megan…

Ballet Lorent: Designer Body

CONTEMPORARY DANCE It’s not hyperbole when I say that Liv Lorent is one of the most exciting, dynamic and emotionally engaging choreographers to have worked in Scotland in recent years. The reviews, awards and audience reaction bear it out, and all…

Anna Krzystek

CONTEMPORARY DANCE Sometimes dance comes with bells and whistles, assaulting your senses with a riot of music and colour. Other times it touches you gently, gradually searing itself onto your memory. The work of Glasgow-based choreographer, Anna…

Northern Ballet Theatre: Swan Lake and Mixed Bill

It may be the world’s most popular ballet in its traditional form, but Swan Lake can withstand a fair bit of manipulation. David Nixon’s innovative version takes place in New England during the early 20th century, where a wealthy college boy and his…

Troop

CONTEMPORARY DANCE Contemporary dance is known for many things, but its use of feathers, sequins and bows isn’t one of them. Choreographer Jane Turner, however, is no stranger to a well-placed high heel, having spent several years as a showgirl in…