DANCE | Previews DANCE | Previews D A N C E
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104 THE LIST 1 Apr–31 May 2017 104 THE LIST 1 Apr–31 May 2017
HIP HOP BREAKIN’ CONVENTION Edinburgh Festival Theatre, Fri 5 & Sat 6 May
Once the exclusive domain of street corners, these days you’re more likely to find hip hop dance performed on a theatre stage than a pavement. In the five years since Breakin’ Convention last visited Edinburgh, the landscape for this progressive dance form has evolved to take advantage of its new surroundings. ‘I think that hip hop artists have realised the potential of the proscenium arch,’ says Breakin’ Convention’s curator and host, Jonzi D. ‘But they also know how much work is required to make that transition.’ This year’s event will see three headline acts from South
Korea, South Africa and Canada, plus a host of local crews from Glasgow, Edinburgh and Dundee. ‘With Breakin’ Convention, I like to capture the global nature of hip hop, so it’s always great to have artists from different areas,’ says Jonzi. ‘Just Dance from Korea [pictured], arguably one of the strongest b-boying nations in the world, are presenting a piece with Korean masks and drumming, so they’re bringing their specific cultural identity to the piece, which I’m very excited about. Canada’s Tentacle Tribe have created a contemporary dance and breaking fusion, and although they’re quite clearly hip hop dancers, I think a contemporary dance audience will really connect with it.’ As for South Africa’s Soweto Skeleton Movers, their particular brand of dance was born in the most unlikely of circumstances, given the athletic nature of hip hop. ‘They’re bringing a dance form called Pantsula,’ explains Jonzi. ‘Some would argue it isn’t hip hop, but looking at the socio-economic context which the dance form comes from, there are mirrors with hip hop. Pantsula comes from the streets of Soweto, and the guy who started the skeleton style learned it in prison from a kung fu master. The style uses stretching techniques that have developed into contortionism, which comes from training in a constricted environment in prison. For me, that’s really interesting.’ (Kelly Apter)
WORLD PREMIERE SCOTTISH BALLET Tramway, Glasgow, Fri 21 & Sat 22 Apr
You can say one thing for choreographic duo Ivgi and Greben: they practise what they preach. Working collaboratively with dance companies around the world for almost 15 years, the two men inevitably have artistic disagreements – but a harmonious reconciliation is never far away. So when they turn up in Glasgow to create a new work for Scottish Ballet about tolerance in the
face of dispute, you know it comes from the heart.
‘Working together is a very natural process,’ says Johan Greben. ‘When we first started to
collaborate, we needed to raise our voices and say “this is what I want to do!”, but over time that has shifted. We are not so important anymore, but the work is – we treat it like a third person.’ Inspired by the fear-driven desire of people in countries around the world to close their borders,
put up walls and revert to some other place in time, Each Other fuses Scottish Ballet’s neo-classical sensibility with Ivgi and Greben’s contemporary language. Hundreds of pairs of shoes will litter the stage, depicting lives once lived, as the piece explores division and reconnection – something equally important to them off-stage.
‘It’s like the relationship between a couple or between countries,’ says Uri Ivgi. ‘Johan and I are very different – I come from Israel, he comes from Holland – we have such a different mentality and temperament. But we always find each other somehow.’ ‘Yes,’ concurs Greben, ‘we’re a good example, we always work things out, we don’t divorce and we don’t build borders.’ (Kelly Apter)
FILM ADAPTATION MATTHEW BOURNE’S THE RED SHOES Edinburgh Festival Theatre, Tue 9–Sat 13 May
All ballet dancers know the pain and discomfort of wearing pointe shoes, but few if any have suffered in them the way Vicky Page did in 1948 film, The Red Shoes. Torn between her love life and her need to dance, she meets a tragic end wearing her shiny red pointe shoes – and ballet fans have worshipped at the film’s altar ever since. One such fan is choreographer Matthew Bourne who, after years of planning, has brought the
iconic film to the stage.
‘The Red Shoes has always been a special film for Matt,’ says dancer Ashley Shaw, who plays Vicky in Bourne’s production. ‘It really stood out as something he thought would work well on stage, so it’s been brewing in his head for years. He hasn’t explored the classical element much, and he’s very good at making sure all his works are really different so audiences keep coming back, so now was the right time.’
Originally played by Moira Shearer in the film, the character of Vicky Page is a plum role for any
dancer, and Shaw is well aware how special it is.
‘It’s incredible to be playing Vicky,’ she says, ‘although it also comes with a lot of pressure because everyone knows the film, and Moira Shearer played it so perfectly. But to be able to create the role with Matt and be the first dancer to play her on stage is really special – it’s definitely the highlight of my career so far, and probably ever.’ (Kelly Apter)