Dance
| 21 August 2011
Inviting three guest dance companies to share the stage, Booking Dance Festival 2011 in ‘Split Bill’ aims to feed their audience’s appetite for America’s freshest dance talent. Sadly the reality of ‘Split Bill’ left me and many others in the theatre completely unsatisfied.
| 19 August 2011
I’m not a Britain’s Got Talent fan. Sure, I watch the auditions to laugh at the deluded ones but then, when it comes to the live shows, I switch off, literally. My mistake, because I missed Flawless. Wow. Wow, wow, wow.
| 19 August 2011
It was a bit of a luxury getting out of the rain into one of the EICCs grand, air-conditioned auditoriums. It’s nice to feel like an executive in an oversized padded theatre seat, resting the aching feet for an hour or so, watching other people go wild on theirs. It’s intense.
| 19 August 2011
It promised to be the spectacle of this year’s Fringe, the dynamism of parkour brought to the Edinburgh stage. And while the stunts are no doubt impressive, and the bodies on show even more so, there is something that feels a little empty about Free Run.
| 06 August 2011
A dance marathon that’s a bit like They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? Professional dancers alongside a bunch of amateurs, grooving along to a foot-tapping band? Great, I thought. Sounds like just the sort of thing I’m in the mood for...watching.
| 27 August 2010
It’s a tale as old as time. Horse meets tiger. Horse considers stabbing tiger to death. Horse realises she’s in love with tiger and embarks on torrid love affair. We’ve all heard it a thousand times before. But somehow Juliet Aster manages to make it seem completely fresh.| 20 August 2010
In the final instalment of the Booking Dance Festival's extensive programme, ATHLETIC provides yet another astonishing array of world-class contemporary dance.| 20 August 2010
2012? Apocalypse! Then what? Little would remain in the smouldering landscape, to be sure, beside the odd cockroach, pile of nuclear waste and stray fringe flier. In this Post-Apocalyptic fantasy, civilization itself would have vanished; no more Magic Flute, no more Ninth Symphony. Instead out of the smoke we could expect to see a gallant clutch of Portuguese musicians emerging: ‘Be-Dom’. Looking like they’ve emerged from homeless shelter, the group would take up worn out oil drums, cans and buckets for instruments and start to rebuild music.| 20 August 2010
Following the story of one young man’s dream to become a footballer, the Zambezi Express shares a story of hope, community, love and spirit in this classic musical piece. | 20 August 2010
| 18 August 2010
In association with Edinburgh Mela, Scottish outdoor theatre team Iron Oxide have produced Cargo - a charming mystical story of a young woman’s journey in search of her home. Using the international language of physical performance it explores the basic themes of loss, friendship, conflict and triumph in a charming, at times clumsy, whirlwind through a sea of poncho-clad audience members.
| 17 August 2010
Walking into the beautiful surroundings of Assembly's new venue in Princes Street Gardens feels like escaping out of the madness of the festival into a more tranquil and peaceful kind of world. This delightful setting is perfect for former Cirque du Soleil clown Julien Cottereau and his joyful solo show, Imagine-Toi.
| 16 August 2010
If this show really represents the life and spirit of Brazil, I’d like to purchase a one-way ticket to Rio de Janeiro right now. This incredibly sexy, passionate piece captivates the audience with the kind of rhythm and movement apparently inherent in Brazilians and unheard of in the British. | 15 August 2010
With six world-class American dance companies taking to the stage with Booking Dance's showcase, Beautiful, it's difficult to know where to begin. Fans of dance will be delighted by the smorgasbord of talent on show, while newcomers to the artform will be able to dip a toe in the water without being overwhelmed. | 14 August 2010
With over 50 celebrated works under his belt, you’d expect nothing but great things from the Michael Mao Dance group; and you would certainly not be disappointed in the second half of the modern dance performance of Split Bill: LYRICAL, part of the Booking Dance Festival 2010. It was an absolute feast for the eyes and ears, with impressive choreography, skilled dancing and a wide variety of musical pieces.
| 13 August 2010
In association with Sadlers Wells and The Fruitmarket Gallery, Ballet Work No. 1020 is Martin Creed’s most recent commission since his immensely popular Work No. 850 in which he employed runners to sprint through the Duveen Gallery of Tate Britain every thirty seconds. In a similar vein to his previous works, Creed uses a strict formula, in this case the five ballet positions each ascribed a musical note, together with video and humour to create a charming, engaging and astute look at the changing effects of time, speed and direction.
| 19 July 2010
Diversity may have grabbed the headlines, but Flawless, another group of Britain’s Got Talent veterans, are determined to forge something new and exciting on their own terms.Standing in front of Simon Cowell can be a make-or-break moment for many performers. The X Factor and Britain’s Got Talent judge is synonymous with caustic comments and career-ending remarks – so when he says you’re “one of the best acts I’ve ever seen”, you know you’ve got something special.
| 30 August 2009
The Arches @ St Stephen’s
9-31 August, 19.30
That women from the audience felt empowered and secure enough to shed their clothes, stand shoulder to shoulder with the nude cast, clothed members of the audience and join in a gutsy, bellowing rendition of Jerusalem in the show’s finale, is a feat that I have never before witnessed, and testament to the radiance and fortitude of Nic Green’s ‘Trilogy’.
| 30 August 2009
Pleasance Courtyard
7-31 August (ex.17, 24) 14.30
First Class is one of those productions that it is very difficult to review. Imagine, if you will, Alice’s best-friend leaning in and asking, “So, Alice dear, how would you describe Wonderland?” She’d probably reply, “It’s blinking barmy, Emily dear!” and so is this wonderful, daft, warm-hearted show from Lecoq-trained “Half Wit” theatre.
| 29 August 2009
The Arches @ St Steven's
9-31 August, 17.30
The premise of 'Spaceman, 'a lone survivor undergoes evolutionary mutations to find out why he is alive', is at once exciting, but also an awkward and paradoxical concept for one man to physicalise on stage.
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