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…

Comedy Shuffle - New Art Club

Edinburgh Festival Fringe

22 Jul 2008

New Art Club are aiming to stretch beyond their usual crowd by injecting some daftness into dance. Kelly Apter finds out how steps and stand-up can go hand in hand.

Materials For a Small Winter

3 Jul 2008

DANCE THEATRE CCA, Glasgow, Sat 12 Jul The teenage years can feature some pivotal moments. For choreographer Angus Balbernie it was the discovery of Malcolm Lowry’s 1947 novel Under the Volcano, widely regarded as one of the great literary works of…

The IT crowd - Mortal Engine

Edinburgh International Festival

22 Jul 2008

An enormous technological feat and huge physical challenge, Chunky Move’s new show has been universally acclaimed. Kelly Apter hears how choreographer Gideon Obarzanek’s dream came vividly to life. Bumps, bruises and bunions. It’s all in a day’s work…

Underwater overwater - Fuerzabruta

edfest.tv - video

25 Jun 2008

Fuerzabruta brought a unique spactacle to the Edinburgh Fringe in 2007. It had no narrative, no dialogue, occupied a grey area somewhere between a performance art piece and a club night and cost £25 a ticket. But it managed to pack the punters in and…

Hitlist - the best Festival dance

9 Aug 2007

With four programmes and a kids show to pick from, you’ll be spoilt for choice at Scotland’s National Centre for Dance. Contemporary, Indian, hip hop, dance theatre – it’s all here and more.

Ascendance Rep

19 Jun 2008

SITE-SPECIFIC DANCE St Mary’s Cathedral, Glasgow, Wed 25 Jun; St Mary’s Cathedral, Edinburgh, Fri 27 Jun Weddings, worship, baptisms and burials – the usual line-up of events at your local cathedral. This month, however, pulpits will be pushed aside…

Richard Alston Dance Company

1 Nov 2007

CONTEMPORARY DANCE Festival Theatre, Edinburgh, Tue 13 Nov Music – some choreographers can’t start work without it, while for others it’s the final piece in the jigsaw. But for Martin Lawrance, dancer and choreographer with Richard Alston Dance…

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…

Big in Falkirk - Ajay Chhabra and Mike Roberts

24 Apr 2008

Anyone staging outdoor theatre in Scotland crosses their fingers – and toes and eyes – that the weather will behave itself at showtime. But for Ajay Chhabra, co-artistic director of nutkhut, who is bringing the dance and pyrotechnic spectacle Bollywood…

Valentine's Day tango classes

31 Jan 2008

It’s bucketing down on Buchanan Street with all the maudlin misery of your traditional Glasgow winter. However, if you divert up a side alley, local dancers are generating the sort of heat and wild, sensual rhythm better suited to the backroom of an…

Rambert Dance Company

1 Nov 2007

CONTEMPORARY DANCE Festival Theatre, Edinburgh, Wed 7–Fri 9 Nov Grace, finesse and refinement – three things every Rambert dancer has at their disposal. But the arrival of Australian choreographer, Garry Stewart this summer, turned the company on…

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…

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…

La La La Human Steps: Amjad

31 Jan 2008

MODERN BALLET They say a picture tells a thousand words, and the poster for La La La Human Steps’ latest show pretty much tells you all you need to know. Standing 20ft tall, male dancer Dominic Santia is wearing a sharp black suit and pointe shoes.

Mel B's lap dance treat

Celebrity Gossip

29 Jan 2008

Mel B took her husband to a strip club as they enjoyed a raunchy night out together and treated him to a private lap dance.

Dance Base & Dance House

4 Jan 2008

DANCE CLASSES There was a time when dance classes meant scraped back buns, stern ballet teachers and splinters from the church hall floor. Not anymore. At the sleek studios of Edinburgh’s Dance Base, there’s not a loose plank in sight, and enjoyment…

Hitlist - the best Festival dance

23 Aug 2007

Ballerina Who Loves A B-Boy The finest Korean breakdancers in town – treat yourself to headspins, streetdance and a wee bit of ballet in this five star show. clubWEST@Hilton, 0772 028 5550, 7.45pm, until 24 Aug, £12 (£9). Trisha Brown Dance Company…

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…

Cabbages and Kings

28 Feb 2008

CHILDREN’S DANCE THEATRE Platform, Glasgow, Sat 8 Mar; Brunton Theatre, Musselburgh, Sat 22 Mar As a choreographer, Claire Pençak is fuelled by a wonderfully rich imagination. So rich, in fact, that sometimes there’s only one group of people to take…

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…

Méli Mélo II

16 Aug 2007

Parody is a tricky thing to pull off. There’s a risk that, while attempting to point out the absurdity of the medium you’re lampooning, you destroy what made it worth imitating in the first place. Happily, Chicos Mambos succeed in negotiating that…

The Voice of Things - Toilet Paper

16 Aug 2007

The solo performer waters her toilet rolls, wears a toilet paper skirt and crown, drapes toilet paper across the stage and generally loses herself, and the audience, in the slow and painful process. Are Underbelly trying to fill their rooms or just…