Dance
Dance at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe
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Edinbugh's not all about the comedy, you know: the Fringe features a diverse array of dance talent...
One year shy of its fiftieth birthday, the Edinburgh Fringe - the worlds largest arts festival - was given no immunity from this dreadful summer of discontent. The opening grand parade, which is usually bathed in early-August Sunday sunshine, was instead cloaked in grey rain. The kind of drizzle that no umbrella can repel, like relentless fine spray from millions of the tiniest nozzles, surreptitiously soaking through layers of clothing to dampen the very soul within. Only in this case, the spirit remained unaffected because this particular Scotch mist was framed by one of the best 'high street' views in the world, as sodden revellers looked across the vista of the Princes Street Gardens to the Castle, its Esplanade and the stone façades of the Terraces beyond.
As always, dance & physical theatre forms a small but very significant part of the Fringe, with around 90 productions featuring just about every dance form: flamenco, tap, fan dancing, hip-hop, contemporary, masses of physical theatre and even the occasional flash of ballet.
Following the rain, another early disappointment was the cancellation of the critically-acclaimed performance of Nijinsky by Teatr Jaracza, which won First Prize at the St Petersburg International Festival, earlier this year. The lead, Kamil Mackowiak, broke a leg just days before performances were due to begin, but undaunted this plucky little Polish company dusted off another piece - A Trip to Buenos Aires - and performed anyway (a real example of 'the show must go on'!) But this is the Fringe, where you can bet your life that there will always be two of anything, and for those keen on the dramatised life of Nijinsky, the Workshop Theatre Group is presenting Nijinskys Last Dance at Hill Street Theatre for the duration of the Festival.
Hip-Hop is particularly big in this years programme with the return of Zoo Nations sell-out modern fairy tale, Into the Hoods; the importing of the Korean new wave sensation which mixes hip-hop and ballet in the Ballerina who loves a B-Boy; the return of the Maximum Crew; and Tamsin Fitzgeralds synthesis of breakdance and contemporary in State of Matter. Contemporary dance is also well served with works from Scottish Dance Theatre, X Factor and Extreme Dance Companies and (at a younger level) Nottingham Youth Dance. A new modern ballet is presented by Pasodos Dance Company in Sorry, Love and those perennial American visitors from Burklyn Youth Ballet bring their version of Alice in Wonderland.
There is also Ghanaian, Irish, Scottish, South African and South Asian dance; Australian, Brazilian, Israeli, Japanese, Korean and Russian Physical Theatre; a one-woman take on The Red Shoes using themes from the
Powell/Pressburger film; puppet dance theatre; Belly dancing; Flamenco music hall; and there is the most extreme classical ballet in the Cirque Surreal (how about a ballerina performing a pirouette on a mans shoulder before a sauté to land on pointe on the other shoulder; or standing en pointe on the mans head before developing into an arabesque ? certainly not for the purists!). And that's not even a half of it! If anyone has an inkling of interest in dance, there must be something for them here.
If you are lucky enough to be anywhere close to Edinburgh, this month rain or no rain - Enjoy!
Graham Watts
As always, dance & physical theatre forms a small but very significant part of the Fringe, with around 90 productions featuring just about every dance form: flamenco, tap, fan dancing, hip-hop, contemporary, masses of physical theatre and even the occasional flash of ballet.
Following the rain, another early disappointment was the cancellation of the critically-acclaimed performance of Nijinsky by Teatr Jaracza, which won First Prize at the St Petersburg International Festival, earlier this year. The lead, Kamil Mackowiak, broke a leg just days before performances were due to begin, but undaunted this plucky little Polish company dusted off another piece - A Trip to Buenos Aires - and performed anyway (a real example of 'the show must go on'!) But this is the Fringe, where you can bet your life that there will always be two of anything, and for those keen on the dramatised life of Nijinsky, the Workshop Theatre Group is presenting Nijinskys Last Dance at Hill Street Theatre for the duration of the Festival.
There is also Ghanaian, Irish, Scottish, South African and South Asian dance; Australian, Brazilian, Israeli, Japanese, Korean and Russian Physical Theatre; a one-woman take on The Red Shoes using themes from the
Powell/Pressburger film; puppet dance theatre; Belly dancing; Flamenco music hall; and there is the most extreme classical ballet in the Cirque Surreal (how about a ballerina performing a pirouette on a mans shoulder before a sauté to land on pointe on the other shoulder; or standing en pointe on the mans head before developing into an arabesque ? certainly not for the purists!). And that's not even a half of it! If anyone has an inkling of interest in dance, there must be something for them here.
If you are lucky enough to be anywhere close to Edinburgh, this month rain or no rain - Enjoy!
Graham Watts
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vikki wilson
Wed 13 July 2011, 13:07
Scottish Dance Theatre – Matters of the Heart
23-28 Aug, 6.30pm
Zoo Southside (venue 82)
Scottish Dance Theatre – Matters of the Heart
Matters of the Heart gathers three different perspectives on our experience of relationship, placing two short duets by SDT artists alongside a longer work by New York based choreographer, Kate Weare. A Little Shadery by SDT Assistant Director Sally Owen is a warm-hearted simple study of friendship. Dreamt for Light Years by SDT dancer Joan Cleville is a meditation at the crossroads of a relationship. Kate Weare’s Lay Me Down Safe is a strident exploration of the power of sexuality. ‘strong, enigmatic’ The Times
‘An intrepid and spirited company’ Guardian
Tickets £12 / £10
Bookings: 0131 226 0000 / http://www.edfringe.com
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