Dance

Behind the scenes at Scottish Ballet

6 Sep 2007

As Scottish Ballet gears up for a move to its new permanent home in Tramway, the company is throwing open the doors and inviting the public in to see exactly what they do when not putting on performances. As well as demonstrating how they intend to…

Into The Hoods

1 Aug 2007

One of the undisputed hits of last year’s Fringe is making a welcome return to Edinburgh.

Scottish Dance Theatre

6 Sep 2007

In the past ten years, Scottish Dance Theatre has commissioned over 30 works, none more captivating, emotive and engaging than Liv Lorent’s Luxuria. So it’s little wonder that for its 21st anniversary tour, the Dundee-based company has chosen to…

Scottish Ballet’s Sleeping Beauty

29 Nov 2007

CHRISTMAS BALLET Theatre Royal, Glasgow, Tue 11–Sat 29 Dec Since his arrival at Scottish Ballet, Ashley Page has been like a Christmas cracker – when his festive shows open, you never know what you’ll find inside. Both The Nutcracker and Cinderella…

State of Matter

9 Aug 2007

The stark lighting and simple uniform of black tailcoats characterise the restraint that permeates this performance by Hereford’s 2FaCeD DaNcE Company. There is no narrative to this show, rather it is a collection of unrelated set pieces, the…

Exposure: Tokyoblu

19 Nov 2008

Hail the Scottish Groove Armada! At least that’s how Edinburgh’s Tokyoblu style themselves, and it’s a comparison which most commentators seem happy to run with. Formed from their identically-named monthly club night – which has been held at the late…

André Gingras - Rambert Dance Company

16 Oct 2008

If you’ve ever watched children charge around a soft play centre, you’ll know how joyful, liberating and downright fun it looks. If only we could shrink ourselves small enough to join in. Well, the dancers at Rambert don’t need to, because Canadian…

Stephen Petronio Dance Company

30 Oct 2008

As the enfant terrible of the dance world Stephen Petronio has worked with some of the world’s most recognisable names. Kelly Apter meets the man behind the stage magic

Maximum Crew

9 Aug 2007

Korean breakdance has evolved away from the po-faced machismo that can pervade Western scenes, so while the dancers may still occasionally come across as cocky show-offs, they’re not afraid of self-parody or knowing camp. Over there the b-boy crews…

Phoenix Dance Company

30 Oct 2008

Most mixed bills throw two or three pieces your way, but not Phoenix. The Leeds-based company is presenting no less than five diverse works for your delectation. Artistic director, Javier De Frutos contributes his visually striking Blue Roses inspired…

Scottish Ballet to host costume sale

16 Oct 2008

Scottish Ballet will host a costume sale later this month featuring clothing, headdresses and accessories from over 30 years of the Ballet company’s productions. Costumes on sale will include everything from the ‘Ooh la la’ French Mademoiselles from…

Scottish Arts Council funding shift causes controversy

1 May 2008

A redistribution of Scottish Arts Council funding, announced today, has readjusted the balance of financial power within the Scottish arts. Among those to benefit under the new plans are: Arika , who run experimental music festivals Instal and Kill…

Birmingham Royal Ballet

30 Oct 2008

George Balanchine, Kenneth MacMillan and Bronislava Nijinska – a heavyweight line-up of choreographers, all of whom have created a ballet to Stravinsky’s 1928 score, Le Baiser de la fée. So when British choreographer, Michael Cordor was asked to make a…

State of Matter

Breakdance/contemporary fusion hits the spot

7 Aug 2008

Following last year’s pattern of hip hop informed acrobatics, ragged yet stunning male ensemble dancing and spectacular solos, 2FaCeD DaNcE Company has tightened up its structure and enhanced the showmanship. It remains a forceful display of masculine…

Ballerina Who Loves a B-Boy

16 Aug 2007

Although it’s been crammed into a hotel function room better suited to the cringey frugging of a wedding disco, this gleeful little production is the most assured and exuberant of the cluster of Korean breakdance shows infesting the Fringe this…

ZooNation

27 Jul 2006

Kate Prince, choreographer and director of the UK hip hop dance-theatre company ZooNation, is a bit of an English rose. She has, however, been fascinated by hip hop since she was a child. ‘I was a massive Janet Jackson fan, and I love cheesy musical…

The Judgment of Paris

Can Can, corsets and high camp

7 Aug 2008

With sculpted, Harlow-platinum wigs, gorgeously gilded corsetry and tongues in cheeks firmly set to ‘high camp’, this riotous piece of dance theatre by Company XIV merges Baroque dance forms, Can Can and contemporary ballet to music by Offenbach and…

Matthew Bourne's Dorian Gray

Effective storytelling makes for an adaptation with impact

29 Aug 2008

In the closing moments of Dorian Gray, a bright light shines out into the audience, temporarily blinding us. Something most people aren't used to, but those who spend their life in the spotlight are all too familiar with. It's this -- the trappings of…

Dancing on your Grave

Songs in the key of death

21 Aug 2008

Dancing on your Grave indulges in gothic vaudeville: an hour of songs about death, sung by ghostly clowns pursuing a most pessimistic vision. After an hour, however, the monomania starts to wear thin. Apart from the odd reflection on lives ill-lived or…

Romeo and Juliet

8 May 2008

When the curtain falls on Scottish Ballet’s new production, it won’t just be the performers who deserve a round of applause. Sitting in the audience, it’s easy to forget the months of planning, preparation and perspiration that go into staging a…

Janis Claxton Dance Company

16 Oct 2008

CONTEMPORARY DANCE The last time we saw Janis Claxton, she was looking rather sodden in a rainy enclosure at Edinburgh Zoo. Not that the weather dampened her spirits – Claxton’s group show, Enclosure 44 – Humans was a huge success at this year’s…

Family

Martial arts and B-boy battles

21 Aug 2008

Head spins. Body spins. Spinning hand stands. Spinning kicks. Spinning on one hand. This energetic show from Korea makes outrageous martial arts and breakdance moves look so effortless that you begin to believe you could do it all yourself.

The Judgment of Paris

Edinburgh Festival Fringe

22 Jul 2008

Brigitte Bardot, Marlene Dietrich, Helen of Troy, Marilyn Monroe: icons each and every one of them, all famed for their beauty. For the Fringe debut of Brooklyn dance team Company XIV, artistic director Austin McCormick plans to lay on a paean to the…

Nederlands Dans Theater 2

5 Jun 2008

CONTEMPORARY DANCE Edinburgh Festival Theatre, Tue 10 & Wed 11 Jun Many people claim to find inspiration from above. But French choreographer, Medhi Walerski looked skyward for more practical reasons – the clouds. Creating his debut work for…

Trisha Brown Dance Company

Edinburgh International Festival

19 Jul 2007

From rejection to reverement, Trisha Brown has seen it all. Kelly Apter speaks to the woman whose career began almost 50 years ago, and who is playing the Festival for the first time