Reviews & features: Contemporary dance

Cinderella

Cartoonish vibes in choreographer Alexei Ratmansky's ultimately glorious Perrault adaptation

As with contemporary productions of Shakespeare, the measure of a fairytale ballet isn't so much the story but what you do with it. Here choreographer Alexei Ratmansky, who created the piece for the Mariinksy in 2002, has chosen to bring a cartoonish…

Bad Taste Cru - 5 questions

What are the 5 key ingredients for any hip hop theatre show? ‘Skill, depth, power, originality and, perhaps most importantly, integrity. We try to stay faithful to the fundamental elements of our dance, while expressing a strong sense of concept or…

Watch it!

Small-screen addiction writ large with dance, theatre and visual trickery

Watching too much television is bad for you. This is not a new piece of information, the psychology behind why has been well documented. But if people only created shows about new subject matters, there’d be a lot of empty stages, so we can’t really…

Anybody Waitin'?

Slapstick meets slick dance in the new production from Irish company ponydance

Who knew dance could be so funny? Presumably all those who went to ponydance’s last Fringe show, Where Did It All Go Right? The Irish troupe is known for mixing slick routines and silliness, and this follow-up certainly won’t disappoint their fans.

Irish dance company Up & Over It put a fresh spin on the Riverdance template for Fringe 2012

Appeals to both Riverdance lovers and haters

They learned the steps, won the medals, and stood in line with all the other good Riverdance boys and girls. Then one day, Suzanne Cleary and Peter Harding decided to break out from that line and do it their way, and Up & Over It was born. Taking an…

Anton Adasinsky discusses Faust adaptation Mephisto Waltz, playing at Fringe 2012

Blend of physical storytelling and clowning set to music by Liszt

If you’ve ever seen a performance by Anton Adasinsky you’ll know that Mephistopheles, the seductive demon from the Faust legend, is the role he was born to play. ‘Very often theatre critics were mentioning devilry, the infernal, even Satanism in…

Irish company ponydance return to Fringe 2012 with Anybody Waitin'?

The team follow up on their successful 2010 show Where Did It All Go Right?

In August 2010, an Edinburgh nightclub was commandeered for an entirely new use. In some ways, it was business as usual – beer was served, steps were danced and flirtations took place. Only this time, it was performers, rather than clubbers, doing the…

Rock the Ballet

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…

Interview - Muirne Bloomer and Emma O’Kane of The Ballet Ruse

Ballerinas swap the barre for the bar

The origins of The Ballet Ruse, by seasoned Irish dancers Muirne Bloomer and Emma O’Kane, are simple. ‘In 2009 we were both single and decided to make a groundbreaking piece about dating,’ remembers Bloomer. But things took a turn in the studio. ‘We…

Soy de Cuba brings Havana dance, music and song

The sound of contemporary Cuba visits 2011 Edinburgh Festival

With influences from South America, Spain and Africa dating back centuries, it’s fair to say Cuba is a melting pot of styles. So it stands to reason that the latest music and dance sensation to come out of the Caribbean island is equally diverse.

Rock the Ballet incorporates multiple dance styles

Ballet gets a rock and pop makeover at 2011 Edinburgh Festival

If the word ballet leads you to thoughts of starched white tutus and tight buns, then Rock the Ballet is here to disabuse you of that notion. For although there will indeed be tight buns on stage, they’re considerably lower down than your average prima…

Brazilian dance highlights at Edinburgh 2011

Now and at the Time of Our Turn, Parallel Memories, My Voluntary Punishments and Another Cappadocia

Long known for its rich dance tradition, Kelly Apter finds Brazil’s contemporary dance companies responding to all aspects of the country’s diverse culture

5 Questions - Ricardo Garcia

One of the busiest men on the Fringe, Ricardo Garcia takes time out from his many performances to tell us about his interactive show, A Compas Flamenco. 5 things you love most about flamenco? I love the fact that it is the art of the people – not a…

Paco Peña Flamenco Dance Company

Where Spanish and African cultures collide

With its close proximity to Africa, Spain is often seen as a gateway to a better life. Some immigrants are successful, others not, but it is their desire for greener grass, followed by a longing for home, which inspired Paco Peña’s latest show…

Be-Dom

Joyous fun with Portuguese drums

As the huge white screen they’ve been playing behind in silhouette collapses to reveal what appears to be a junkyard full of cavorting, hunky (and fairly well-scrubbed) crusties, the tone is set for an hour of shambolic play. Switching fairly…

5 Questions - Frank McConnell

Frank McConnell of Plan B takes time out from performing A Wee Home From Home with musician Michael Marra, to answer our 5 Questions.

Flawless - Chase The Dream

Streetdance – and a whole lot more

Britain’s Got Talent finalists, Flawless strive for perfection on a daily basis. And, in their slick, fast-paced streetdance routines, it’s fair to say they’ve reached their goal. Not an arm or leg is out of place, the timing is razor sharp and the…

Brazil! Brazil!

Capeoira kicks, samba hips and footie tricks

Brazil! Brazil! is like the fantasy beach party everyone wants invited to. Chilled-out Brazilian beats to rival Astrud Gilberto, buff bare-chested guys wheeling out jaw-dropping capoeira kicks and backflips, voluptuous feather-topped girls in bling…

Anatomy of Fantasy

Impressive if unfocused journey through the subconscious

Anatomy of Fantasy is an appropriately elusive title for a multi-sensory show that, while enjoyable, at times lacks focus.

Tap Ole

Tap dance meets flamenco guitar with a sprinkling of razzle dazzle

If you like your flamenco music served with fury and furrowed brow this is not the show for you. This is flamenco music with a Broadway smile: the usual simmering passions and castanets of the proud flamenca replaced with jazz arms and a volley of…

Continent

Barton finks too much

There’s something curiously retro about this little piece, from the tight-fitting, slightly shiny suits worn by its performers to the old fashioned world of typewriters and briefcases it conjures up.

Roam

Fast-flowing contemporary dance laced with breakdance and martial arts

Tom Dale Company returns to the Fringe with a piece loosely based on the human impulse to ‘roam’. The rising choreographer presents an hour of contemporary dance that, like its title, never stops moving. There is no set or narrative. Rather Roam is…

Brazil! Brazil! marks return of Capoeria Knights to Fringe

Fancy footwork and football from the favelas

Starting life as Capoeria Knights at the 2008 Fringe, returning as The Boys From Brazil in 2009 and now simply called Brazil! Brazil!, this show has undergone various personnel changes and artistic tweaks. Jaw-dropping flips and leaps have always been…

Booking Dance Festival showcases 12 US dance companies

10-minute canapés of American dance

The festival within a festival returns to the Fringe for the second time, bringing dynamic performances from our friends across the pond. The Booking Dance Festival showcases 12 US dance companies over two programmes, with each one given ten minutes to…

My Name is Margaret Morris

Forgotten hero dances back to life

You would think, having invented a new way of moving, married a famous artist and been the driving force behind Scottish dance for years, that people would remember you. Sadly, the name Margaret Morris is likely to prompt a ‘who?’ from most people these…