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Re-Triptych
2 Sep 2011
Mesmerising epic journey of dance
Even as we file into the auditorium, the mesmerising spectacle has begun. The dancers sit holding golden bowls, calmly anointing the final touches on a huge mandala - a geometric Buddhist symbol - made from blue and white confetti covering the whole…
Scottish Ballet
1 Sep 2011
An evening of contemporary classics
For a programme dominated by music from the great canon of composers, the opening to Finnish choreographer Jorma Elo’s Kings 2 Ends, a silent dynamic solo, comes as a surprise. But it’s curiously pleasing. It lets the clean stretched lines of the dance…
Scottish Ballet at 2011 Edinburgh International Festival
25 Aug 2011
Ashley Page and Jorma Elo on the EIF programme
Ashley Page maintains that, when putting together Scottish Ballet’s new double bill for the Edinburgh International Festival, pairing the legendary Scottish choreographer Kenneth MacMillan’s neo-classical 1965 piece Song of the Earth with a completely…
Drought and Rain (Re-creation 2011) at Edinburgh International Festival
24 Aug 2011
Ea Sola dance piece gives voice to the pain of war
In 1995, when Vietnamese choreographer Ea Sola created her original version of Drought and Rain, she cast elderly women who were once dancers in their youth. Due to circumstances – a war raging through their country – the women had swapped dancing shoes…
Shen Wei Dance Arts perform Re-Triptych at 2011 Edinburgh International Festival
24 Aug 2011
Five reasons why missing it is not an option
1: The Inspiration Shen Wei made a personal pilgrimage to Cambodia, Tibet and his birthplace, China to create Re (i), (ii) and (iii). Now the three works have been sewn together to form Re-Triptych, they form a diverse, largely abstract emotional…
Sriyah
24 Aug 2011
Ancient dance in a modern era
Studying for ten hours a day, six days a week for six years, the dancers at the Nrityagram school near Bangalore know that to truly absorb Indian classical dance takes time. The first student to emerge from the residential course, Surupa Sen graduated…
Interview: Choreographer Joan Cleville
19 Aug 2011
Scottish Dance Theatre choreographer shares his thoughts
Who or what inspired you to dance? When I was 16, I attended a dance summer school in my community centre in Barcelona. I had no experience whatsoever but I met a British teacher who introduced me to dance and offered me a scholarship at her evening…
Enclosure 99: Humans
18 Aug 2011
Are we human or are we dancer?
The youngest female folds her body into a knot in the corner of the Perspex-fronted cage, slipping her head into the lap of the youngest male. ‘As you can see, this one is particularly flexible,’ explains the zookeeper, wryly. ‘And this one; well, we…
Last Orders
18 Aug 2011
Contemporary retelling of cannibal tale fails to set the blood pumping
There is no end to the unpleasant images that choreographer and director Al Seed presents us with in this fetishistic modern retelling of the legend of Sawney Bean. Those familiar with the story of Scotland’s real or fictitious 16th century cannibal…
Circolombia: Urban Intimo
14 Aug 2011
Impressive circus showcase that leaves you wanting more
This colourful, multi-faceted circus skills showcase opens with allusions to the impoverished backgrounds of its cast members. The master of ceremonies crawls into the space inside a waste bucket while screens at the back of the stage show images of the…
Soy de Cuba
11 Aug 2011
Song and dance spectacular a real feel-good Fringe show
This is not so much a feel-good Fringe show as a feel-sizzling-hot-and-leave-dripping-with-sweat show. Song and dance spectacular Soy de Cuba is so full of perma-grins, saucy winks and jazzily acrobatic moves it could be a cruise ship act. But, minutes…
Pinocchio: A Fantasy of Pleasures
11 Aug 2011
Adults-only retelling is decidedly not Disney
Sometimes the spectacle is enough. The experience of watching Company XIV’s radical reinterpretation of Pinocchio is a little like gorging on gourmet food: something sensual and rich that might not offer you too much nourishment in the long run, but…
Slender Threads
11 Aug 2011
Sensitive portrayal of a woman’s experience of cancer
Chickenshed is not a company to shy away from difficult or painful subject matters. Previous shows have dealt with knife crime and the true story of a 19-year-old boy who was killed while fleeing a robbery scene. Here they lay bare a woman’s experience…
The Ballet Ruse
11 Aug 2011
Sneaking a cheeky peek at the secret lives of ballerinas
2011 has been quite a year for peeking backstage at the ballet, with the BBC documentary series The Agony and the Ecstasy and Darren Aronofsky’s thriller Black Swan. The Ballet Ruse is an altogether more irreverent look at the painstaking discipline…
La Putyka
11 Aug 2011
Don your beer goggles and soak up the fun of this Czech circus
La Putyka is slang for ‘little run down pub’ in Czech. Many citizens of the Czech Republic will probably be familiar with what British people look like in one of their putykas, but for those of us who have never been on a stag or hen night to Prague…
Forgetting Natasha
11 Aug 2011
Multimedia memories with excellent choreography
As a poetic and artistic response to early-onset dementia, Forgetting Natasha is a well-conceived idea with some utterly beautiful moments. The writing, by Anna Mae Selby, is sharply-observed and designed to tug at the heartstrings. Multimedia…
Dot504: Mah Hunt
10 Aug 2011
Acclaimed Czech dance company bring duet to 2011 Edinburgh Fringe
DOT504 made its Fringe debut in 2008 with Holdin’ Fast, a woozy, delicate work about desire, with six young dancers tumbling and fondling under showers of glitter and old Persian carpets. The company returned by popular demand in 2009 with the darker…
Last Orders dance piece based on Sawney Bean
10 Aug 2011
Al Seed Fringe piece on 16th century Scottish cannibal
Anthony Hopkins’ quivering lips, as he extols the fava beans, Chianti and human liver combo, is one of the most disturbing yet compelling images in Silence of the Lambs. For while serial killers might be scarily fascinating, they’re ten a penny compared…
Enclosure 99 - Humans
10 Aug 2011
Janis Claxton dance piece set in Edinburgh Zoo
When Janis Claxton took up daily residence in an Edinburgh Zoo enclosure during the 2008 Fringe, she had no idea how much attention she and her fellow dancers would generate. ‘I was only doing it as an experiment,’ Claxton avows, ‘absolutely unaware…
Interview: Austin McCormick of New York dance outfit Company XIV
10 Aug 2011
Dance piece Pinocchio: A Fantasy of Pleasures at Edinburgh Fringe
Who or what inspired you to choreograph? I was inspired from an early age by the combination of mediums in Baroque performance (1600-1750); movement, scenic design, music, and costumes combine to give an audience a 360 degree experience at the theatre…
Dance Marathon
8 Aug 2011
Sweat-slicked endurance test
At three hours in, the fatigue has begun to show. As per the First Rule of Dance Marathon, we’re all still moving our feet constantly, but it’s descended to a listless, obedient shuffling. A room full of sweating strangers, inhibitions completely lost…
Korean Drum: Journey of a Soul
8 Aug 2011
Dance to the rhythm of life
Sometimes words are not required. Sometimes a single performer beating a frenetic rhythm on a drum suspended from an ornate frame is enough to raise the hairs on your arm. For those who love a bit of variety in their Fringe life, though, this showcase…
Silent
8 Aug 2011
Witty and moving portrayal of life on the streets
Shuffling across the stage under a blanket, Pat Kinevane slowly makes his way towards the audience. Peering out from underneath the dirty and torn material, glittery eye shadow adorning each lid, he starts to speak. What are we expecting him to say? A…
Uncharted Waters
8 Aug 2011
Homage to life on the waves told through aerial circus skills
The wayward charm of running away to sea is beautifully captured by aerial dance and roguish shanties, in this three-part collaboration between Strange Bird Zirkus and All or Nothing. Lucy Deacon and Jennifer Paterson lure us in with their parallels…
Rock the Ballet
7 Aug 2011
Pop-rock ballet makes for pure entertainment from Rasta Thomas’s Bad Boys
Rasta Thomas’ Bad Boys of Dance have come to town and swapped tights and Tchaikovsky for snug black trousers and an unashamed pop-rock soundtrack. New York-based ballet dancers they may be, but there’s not a whiff of neurotic Natalie Portman about them…
