list.co.uk/festival Reviews | FESTIVAL DANCE
BURN THE FLOOR: REBELS OF BALLROOM Mixed bag of ballroom and more ●●●●●
This is Strictly Come Dancing, sent into hyperdrive. The dancers are put through an incredibly fast-paced hour of extreme lindy hop, breakneck mambo and a tribute to Michael Jackson’s ‘Smooth Criminal’ video. Their precision and energy is incredible and they consistently nail the art of working hard while looking like they are hardly working. But it’s the choreography and staging that gets
progressively more intense – and baffling. For those who like Vegas-style melodrama, with plenty of air grabs, tortured facial expressions and knee drops, this is the show for you. If the use of a heartbroken Spanish language version of Robbie Williams’ ‘Angels’ and a leather bondage gladiator fight scene straight out of Attitude magazine mixed in with an intense tango to ‘Carmina Burana’ sounds too much, consider yourself well warned.
A tuneless cover of ‘Stairway to Heaven’ and a
barefoot, tortured duet to ‘Hallelujah’ don’t help matters much, and by the last 20 minutes, things have got so amped up, you’re half expecting Siegfried and Roy to appear with their tigers and start setting things on fire. (Claire Sawers) ■ Underbelly Bristo Square, until 27 Aug (not 15, 20), 3pm, £18–£20 (£16–£18).
CASUS: YOU & I Small-scale circus with a gay theme ●●●●● CASTING OFF Three-hander has rough and ready charm ●●●●●
It’s a good thing that the two creator-performers of this Edinburgh world premiere from Casus, a company that previously scored with Fringe hits Knee Deep and Dritftwood, are patently skilful and easy on the eye. Why? Because the basic material they’ve come up with is pretty thin. Not disagreeable, mind you, but also not game- changing. Unless, that is, you regard same-sex relationships in a circus context as radical.
Compact and blond Lachlan McAuley and lanky
brunette Jesse Scott are well-paired. The show is presumably set in a stage representation of their home, where they dance tango tinged with acrobatics, and play dragging up games via clothes pulled out of a trunk. Then McAuley disappears, temporarily, triggering Scott being morose on a trapeze. Eventually they’re reunited, and build and balance atop a stack of chairs before a double trapeze finale. Alas, the domestic details aren’t especially interesting, nor do the performance’s emotional undercurrents generate much dramatic resonance. Pity, because both men have likable stage presences and are no slouches in terms of their circus prowess. (Donald Hutera) ■ Assembly Roxy, until Aug 26 (not 20), 3.10pm, £12 (£10.50).
The oldest member of Casting Off has just crashed off the stage and into the laps of two women in the front row. Mock mortified, she freezes, checks they’re ok, then reattempts her leap, this time executing it perfectly. It’s the first of several moments when the playfully christened Slip wrongfoots our expectations about older women’s bodies. Grey haired and wiry, she proves as agile as her two (much) younger co-performers.
Casting Off merges spoken word with acrobatic tricks and an aerial finale. Subverting stereotypes of circus women as young and glamourous, they chat about their to-do lists while balancing atop each other’s shoulders, or on a precarious stack of chairs. The show has a rough and ready charm, but set-ups between tricks drag, and the dialogue lacks sparkle. The absence of music also contributes to a sense that the show just never lifts off the ground, despite excellent tumbling and cradle work.
With crash mats being re-positioned, and performers humorously apologising in advance for accidents, the piece treads a risky line between deconstructed and under-rehearsed. Having said that, a few more performances will tighten things up. A promising new company. (Alexandra Gray) ■ Assembly George Square Gardens until 26 Aug (not 20), 5.15pm, £12–£14 (£11–£13).
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INFINITA Mask, music and movement transport you to an other-worldly place ●●●●●
The silhouetted figures of a funeral procession are projected onto the back wall of the theatre as the audience take their seats. Youth and old age, friendship and loneliness, bookend this poignant and magical piece from acclaimed German mask company Familie Flöz. A grown daughter enters, pushing her father in a wheelchair. He places a flower at his wife’s grave, then both tilt their faces into the light. Hajo Schuler’s masks are exquisitely expressive: she appears sad, he stoical, both are lost in memories. Quickly, the scene changes and a toddler is centre stage, struggling to take its first steps. The illusion of scale is cleverly created with an over- sized playpen, and the physicality of a tottering, wobbling infant is conveyed with uncanny accuracy.
Scenes of nursery wars are interspersed with scenes in a care home. The stoical father is reluctantly checked in by his daughter, only persuaded to stay by the presence of a piano on which he plays haunting melodies. The care home is larger than life, with residents at the mercy of a harassed, key-jangling nurse.
A swarthy lothario in a brown dressing gown jabs his walking stick about, forcing our pianist to play ragtime in order to dance with the nurse, while a timid fellow in white pyjamas is eager for medication time. Wry comedy ensues after he takes his pills – he becomes a new man, gliding across the stage, all jittery struts and finger clicks. The company of four are masters of economical gestures and comic timing, and their bodies so expressive you can feel every sigh. A variety of scenes of varying pace bring much laughter, spontaneous applause and gasps of delight. Old age can be cruel, and children can be mean, but Infinita reveals the joyful magic present in both. Enchanting. (Alexandra Gray) ■ Pleasance Courtyard, until 27 Aug, 1.30pm, £12–£13.50 (£11–£12.50).
15–27 Aug 2018 THE LIST FESTIVAL 65