Reviews & features: Dance, Allan Radcliffe

Rhythmic Circus: Feet Don't Fail Me Now

Hugely impressive dance and music collaboration

Rhythmic Circus are a group of friends who hail mainly from Minnesota, and their strong, close connection is one of the things that makes Feet Don’t Fail Me Now so enjoyable, right from the outset. The quartet of four hugely impressive tap dancers…

Hi-kick

Thrilling fusion of football, dance and slapstick

Virtuoso soccer skills have become a staple of telly variety shows like Britain’s Got Talent. But when was the last time you witnessed a five-a-side football match recreated on stage, with multiple balls flying in every direction? While this show from…

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…

Circolombia: Urban Intimo

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…

Korean Drum: Journey of a Soul

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…

Transformation

Harrowing but uplifting tale of survival

At first sight writer, director and performer Gemskii appears to have created a welcoming, informal atmosphere in her small space at the Roxy, handing out programmes and opening her show with a polite invitation to ‘laugh, even though this story is…

Reel-to-Real: The Movies Musical

Less chat more dancin’ and singin’ please

Much has been made of Reel-to-Real’s impressive technical credentials, which allows live performers to perform iconic song-and-dance numbers against a backdrop of footage from classic film musicals. In fact the background projections, while cleverly…

Dance Doctor Dance

Joining in with the lord of the dance

As the lights go up on PowerPoint equipment and a bespectacled, middle-aged man announcing himself as a reader in psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, you fear you’re in for a lecture rather than an hour of Fringe fun. But twinkle-toed Dr…

Rhythm Of The Drums: Song Of The Cicada

Show but no tell

The title is a little misleading: drumming is but a small part of this showcase of traditional music and dance from the minority Dong and Miao peoples of southwest China. The series of virtuoso displays, from the furious Wood Drum Dance to love…

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.

Edinburgh Festival 2010: More Fringe show highlights

Some of the shows to look out for at the Fringe

With over 2,400 shows to choose from at this years Fringe festival, it's all to easy to succumb to the paradox of choice. Here we present our picks for some of the smaller shows that are worth looking out for.

Fifty Edinburgh Fringe shows for a fiver

The economy may be in the stink-hole, but Julia Correia and Allan Radcliffe help stretch your pennies with this round-up of Fringe theatre shows for a fiver

Boh

Moving dance exploration of women’s roles

This solo performance piece created by the Sanpapié theatre-dance company opens with a women sitting in a kitchen-like space munching on popcorn, a faraway look in her eyes. From time to time, props and bits of costume are fired out of a wardrobe at the…

Still Breathing

Impressive but joyless contemporary dance

There’s plenty to admire in this new show by all-male company 2FaCeD DaNcE, not least the virtuosity of UK breakdancing champion, Robby Graham. Plus some incredibly tight ensemble routines, which fuse street dance with contemporary to explore the…

Tap Kids

Tapping the light fantastic

Anyone who pitches up at Tap Kids with a cynical attitude and a sense of impending dread will quickly find themselves struggling to contain smiles of unfettered delight. While the show – a hybrid of Tap Dogs and High School Musical – is rooted firmly…

Behind The Mirror

Bizarre love triangle

At first, Ad Infinitum’s infectious romp plays out like a physical theatre version of The Odd Couple, the buffoonish protagonist embarking on a slapstick turf war with his demonic reflection, who has escaped from his rightful side of the mirror. The…

Lost in the Wind

Lost Spectacles brings the outside inside

Remember Let's Pretend, the kids TV show where the cast made up a play using whatever props and costumes found in the dressing-up box? This offbeat show from Lost Spectacles has a similarly patchwork feel to it. The cast use simple objects such as a…

A Night at the Movies

Classic scenes from the silver screen

Golden moments from classic Hollywood films are the inspiration for this patchy production from US choreographers Gallimaufrey & Greene. While the intention is to provide an accessible entry point for theatregoers who are less familiar with contemporary…

Flamenco con Fusion

Ricardo Garcia’s Familia Flamenca exemplifies the drama that can be created from a simple fusion of virtuoso musicianship and strong, deft footwork. Even stripped down to acoustic instruments, voices and movement, the show is no less uplifting. Whether…

Méli Mélo II

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…

State of Matter

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…

Tap Olé

The words ‘Spanish’ and ‘dance’ are most likely to conjure up visions of a twisting bolero or majestic sarabande.

Score

Edinburgh Festival Fringe

Edinburgh Festival Fringe A question of sport Allan Radcliffe talks to Quentin Ogier of 2002 Fringe award-winners Au Cul du Loup about their games-themed show