Edinburgh Fringe Reviews

Sweetshop Revolution: I Loved You And I Loved You

sweetshop{extravote 5} The advance publicity for Sweetshop Revolution's I Loved You And I Loved You stated that it explored the extremely talented Welsh composer Morfydd Owen and her love triangle with the man she married and the man she loved; someone later pointed out that the promotional photo was reminiscent of that for Dangerous Liaisons.

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James Wilton Dance: Last Man Standing

Read more ...{extravote 4} For some time, every prize and award in contemporary dance seemed to be earmarked for James Wilton, until he relocated to Austria to work with Oper Graz, and since then, he has been developing his practice with commissions and teaching and continuing to create work for his company of which Last Man Standing, commissioned by Dance City, is the most recent.

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Vera Tussing: T-Dance

Read more ...T-Dance is a piece which explores touch and connection, and how to touch and connect with others when they are that little bit too far away to reach. Vera Tussing has been creating experimental work in a wide range of nontraditional spaces over the past years, and while the dancers' friendliness and informality are refreshing in the setting of a black box theatre setting, it's easy to imagine this piece being transformed by moving it to a nontraditional space, where the audience can't lurk behind the fourth wall.

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Gwyn Emberton Dance: My People

Read more ...{extravote 4} At many of the shows I've seen at this year's Edinburgh Fringe, the programmes aren't handed out till after the show has ended, and Gwyn Emberton's My People definitely benefits from having access to the programme notes beforehand. My People is inspired by a collection of stories from Wales's 'best-hated man', Caradoc Evans, and despite the very rich imagery of the stories Emberton uses, they depict such levels of pathos and cruelty, it can be hard to follow the specifics of each story: for example, the programme notes for 'Be This Her Memorial' tells us that 'Nanni sacrifices herself, for the respected Minister, Joshua Bryan Bevan, and is left to have her face eaten by rats.'

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Marc Brew Company: For Now, I Am...

Read more ...{extravote 4} Marc Brew is a leading choreographer and director, with his works performed around the world and he is also the Guest Artistic Director of AXIS Dance Company (Oakland, California) and the Associate Artistic Director of Ballet Cymru. While he creates work for both integrated and non-integrated dance companies, in For Now, I Am... he revisits the terrible accident which paralysed and nearly killed him at the start of his career as a ballet dancer in South Africa.

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2Faced Dance: Dreaming In Code

Read more ...{extravote 5} Before we're allowed into the auditorium for 2Faced Dance's Dreaming In Code, we're informed that the show is a triple bill: two performances sandwiched by a brief dance film. Both pieces explore the impact and legacy of dreams, through physical theatre and Tamsin Fitzgerald's fusion of dance styles.  

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Joan Clevillé Dance: Plan B For Utopia

Read more ...{extravote 4} An international dancer, teacher and choreographer, Joan Clevillé has recently established his own dance company Joan Clevillé Dance in Dundee, and this full-length work Plan B For Utopia is a playful look at people's dreams and wishes, performed by the very very well-matched Solène Weinachter and John Kendall.

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Company Chameleon: Beauty Of The Beast

Read more ...{extravote 5} Some shows are worth seeing more than once, and Company Chameleon's Beauty of The Beast is one of them: I should know; this is the fourth time I've seen the show, in four cities (Manchester, London, Leeds and now Edinburgh). This is the most intimate setting yet, in Dance Base's Studio 1, where the show is barely contained in the space provided.

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PanicLab: RIOT

R.I.O.T. - PanicLabDisclaimer: half an hour before seeing PanicLab's RIOT, I'd heard the news about spectacular dancerJonathan Ollivier being killed in a motorbike accident; I'd hoped that RIOT could take my mind off the shock and grief, but it couldn't, not completely.

RIOT is the third PanicLab work which I have now seen in the last few months, and it's the second work (as the first one was a solo for Jordan Lennie) which involves director Joseph Mercier beating up Jordan Lennie. There's a starting place.

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Lost Dog: Paradise Lost (lies unopened beside me)

Lost Dog 343x343 photo by Zoe Manders 300x300{extravote 5} At the end of Lost Dog's performances of Like Rabbits at The Place in London last October, the audience was treated to a trailer of what seemed an improbable if not impossible next piece: an adaptation of Paradise Lost. Hesitant, awkward, somewhat madcap and mostly hilarious, Ben Duke introduced the outline of the piece, enacting some of the proposed scenes, such as a nervous God chatting up bad boy Lucifer in a pub. And that eccentric 15-minute trailer has evolved into an eccentric 70-minute full length solo, performed at Summerhall every day at 4.40pm.

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Igor & Moreno: Idiot-Syncrasy

Idiot 300x300{extravote 5} One of the joys of the Edinburgh Fringe is getting the unexpected, which is certainly what Igor Urzelai's and Moreno Solinas's Idiot-Syncrasy delivers in spades (alongside a free shot of whisky). While repetition and minimalism are not for everyone, this show has rewards in store, and not just in liquid form.

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Zosia Jo: Herstory

zosia{extravote 4} Zosia Jo's 'Herstory' is part spoken word, part dance: Zosia wanted to find a way to bring together her performance poetry and choreography, and the result is an engaging and endearing show which is accessible to all.

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