We all have one; amongst the ten colour-coded chunks of the 450-page Fringe brochure, there’s at least one hue that each of us gives no more than a cursory glance.
One of these skip-over sections is ‘Dance, Physical Theatre and Circus’. The label is pretty clear and either you’re into that stuff, and came here to see more of it, or you’re not.The thing is, that like the ‘Cabaret and Variety’ section, it’s also the home of some shows that just don’t quite fit under one genre banner.
Take ‘Dance’ for example: there are plenty of shows in the Fringe that are movement based. Shows where you can watch exquisitely crafted, technically virtuosic and emotionally charged choreography - lots of them are really, really good.
But under the ‘Dance’ label there are also some phenomenal performances that defy easy categorisation. They have choreographers too, of course, but they are made by people who draw on whatever they need to tell the story or expound their ideas – movement, words, songs, silly jokes, juggling, comic books, epic literature, drams of whisky, household objects, audience participation or just plain nonsense. They live in the territory of ‘they were kind-of-dancing but they weren’t and I’ve never seen anything like that before’.
They’re not really dance shows at all. Except that they are.
This year The Place is sponsoring a Total Theatre Award for Dance. For over 30 years, Total Theatre has been celebrating beautiful, undefinable performance and we all felt it was a good moment to turn people’s attention towards some of the unforgettable dance and not-really-dance shows in the Fringe.
Maybe in a few years we won’t need it and the label will become redundant. But for now, if you want to see something that will blow apart your expectations of what a dance show might look like then check out our ten picks below, selected by The Place's Eddie Nixon, Director of Theatre and Artist Development, and Christina Elliot, Artist Development Producer.
An Invitation, Jo Fong
Dance Base, Aug 25-26
'I’ve never reached the end of a performance not knowing who were performers, and who were audience. A beguiling and clever piece in which the boundary between life and performance is exposed to be meaningless.' (CE)
Bruit de Couloir, Clement Dazin
Institut français d'Ecosse, until Aug 23
'Juggling with elegance, precision, beauty and wit. I found it mesmerising, but not because of the skill, which is a given, but because of the utter control in the performance and of our gaze.' (CE)
Falling In Love With Frida, Caroline Bowditch
Dance Base, Aug 18-30
'I saw this in The Basement in Brighton - sitting on cushions and enjoying a drink together (it wasn’t finished then, so it’s probably even better now). It’s a sexy and funny homage to the enigmatic Frida Kahlo, but also feels like an intimate evening in with friends.' (CE)
Idiot-Syncrasy, Igor and Moreno
Summerhall, until Aug 29
'To say this piece was charming would be a monumental understatement. It’s bottled optimism - beguilingly simple and infectiously joyful. I’ve watched it five times and every night my heart is left singing and jumping along with them.' (EN)
Pact With Pointlessness, Wendy Houston
Dance Base, Aug 26-30
'One of the world’s great physical actors conjures a reflection on nothingness and the relentless, meaningless noise that surrounds us. A dance of nihilism that is somehow also hopeful and funny.' (EN)
Paradise Lost (lies unopened beside me), Lost Dog
Summerhall, until Aug 30
'This is a show that reveals the fallibility of everything – theatre, God, the best laid plans. Like all good comedy it has a kind of masochistic wit. But this is a dance.' (EN)
RIOT, Panic Lab
Zoo, until Aug 31
'Imagine that you and three of your nine-year-old friends decided to create an epic performance of a comic book story about a band of secret, crime-stopping super heroes. Then imagine you could really do the martial arts, tell jokes and look good in tight lycra. Hilarious, entertaining and necessarily just a little camp.' (EN)
T-Dance, Vera Tussing Projects
Summerhall, until Aug 30
'All those moments when you have sat in the auditorium thinking "Please don’t pick on me" are gently, lovingly ushered away. It’s like feeling the hand of an old friend touching your cheek.' (EN)
The Letter: To be or not to MBE, Jonzi D
Assembly George Square Box, until Aug 31
'This isn’t even in the dance section, but the director of Breakin’ Convention takes to the stage in this brilliant hip-hop theatre autobiography and lets his body talk as much as his poetry.' (EN)
Vertical Influences, Le Patin Libre
Murrayfield Ice Rink, Aug 15-29
'This is dancing on ice without the kitsch and the sparkly costumes. I remember the sense of fun, the distinctive sounds of gliding, cutting, spinning, and sitting on the ice with the performers speeding towards me, knowing they will stop but not quite believing it.' (CE)
Check out more shows across all genres at the Edinburgh Festivals.