Edinburgh, 16-18 August 2008

Though there’s no traffic on the roads, it’s rush hour at Dublin Airport; Saturday, 6am. Thank goodness there’s time for a nap before heading out to the first of four shows. Edinburgh’s Dancebase is a great facility with a beautiful studio that gets turned into a black box theatre at Festival time. Morag Deyes, the Artistic Director, programs a multitude of mixed bills that run at different times, day and evening, over ten days, giving visiting curators a good chance to see the work. And their cafe offerings give you the chance to re-charge between shows without having to deal with the crowds outside. This is the last day and the tech crew look a bit worn down but cheerfully and efficiently manage the performances, on time! The work is mixed in aesthetics and style but all involved are solid performers. It was great to see Steinnun Kettilsottir’s (Iceland) Crazy in Love with MR. PERFECT again although my bias is that the venue for the Dublin Dance Festival performances at Ss Michael & John seemed more conductive to its informality. The other companies on the two programmes I see — X-Factor and Rosie Kay (Scotland) and winter guests and Odd Johan Fritoe (Norway) — were all new to me and, as always, it’s great to get an introduction to artists about whom you’ve heard nothing or a lot, and see them live. One of the other programmes, Irish Cream, part of an exchange with Dance Ireland, included three Dublin companies.

The two main Edinburgh performance I caught were Anne Theresa de Keersmaeker’s company Rosas (Belgium) in Steve Reich Evening and Chunky Move’s (Australia) Mortal Engine. De Keersmaeker has been making work to Reich since her first creations in the 80’s and this performance event highlighted her affinity for his music with excerpts from Fase and Drumming, as well as new work. Two music pieces without dance were featured and all the music was performed flawlessly by the Ictus Ensemble. Mortal Engine was an exciting visual event with six dancers performing on a raked stage that could be moved from a slight slant to vertical by means of hydraulics. Projections, incorporating infrared sensors, followed the outlines of their bodies, occassionally rendering the bodies black within a colourful space. A final section featuring green lasers was thrilling and disorienting.

The Czech Institute in London held its first official showcae of Czech theatre with five companies, of which I saw two. DOT 504 is a repertory dance company which has the distinction of full-time funding, a first in the Czech Republic. Their piece, Holdin’ Fast, was created by Josef Frucek and Linda Kapetanea, veterans of Win Vandekeybus’ Ulitma Vez. Jan Benes-McGadie, who created the lighting for Ioana Mona Popovici’s Portrait during DDF 2008, performed in a duet work, Polaris, investigating the realities and fantasies of polar exploration.

For fun, which you must have in Edinburgh, I saw New Art Club’s (London) Extra Ordinary World in which Tom and Pete managed to dance wildly on a postage stamp-sized stage. At the behest of friends, I also saw Pot Noodle, the musical, about which nothing more shall be said!

Culture Ireland, along with Irish Theatre Institute and Dance Ireland, hosted a lovely lunch at the Consulate General of Ireland in Edinburgh. It was a great crowd in which to rub elbows.

Edinburgh’s imposing formal architecture contrasts delightfully with festival crowds, clowns, fire eaters, stilt walkers, and the fireworks that go off from the Castle on Saturday nights. You can’t sit in a cafe without collecting 10 postcards/hour nor walk down the street without bumping into performers trying to drum up business. It’s a real buzz.