A Captivating Celebration of Physical Movement, Art and Life
"Ripe" is an eclectic programme of solo performances by four well-established international dancer/choreographers. Namron has created a very personal work, Missing, about the disappearance of his son, coinciding with his father's death. Stage set - a denim jacket on an empty chair. To a heartfelt soundtrack of Peter Gabriel's song "Fathers and Sons", Namron walks in slow motion with the aid of a walking stick, strokes the jacket, sits, head in his hands, rocks and sways. This is an emotional elegy to his father and son.
Ellen van Schuylenburch's Silence was created in India and is clearly inspired by yoga and meditation. Her slender, supple body moves seamlessly through a series of exquisite balletic positions across the floor. Perfectly in control of mind and body, she radiates an inner peace. For The Hurdy-gurdy Man, American choreographer Stephen Pelton painstakingly studied documentary films of Adolf Hitler noting every movement and facial gesture. Pelton mimes, walks, marches, sits, grimaces, angrily stabs his finger in the air and finally gives the Nazi salute - all to haunting archive recordings of Schubert and Schumann lieder. It's an unnerving, almost terrifying impersonation but why not show a short film extract of Hitler to echo the dance and end on a chilling note?
The programme ends, unfortunately, with the weakest piece, Degrees of Freedom. Described as an exploration of "identity and intimacy", Gary Lambert presents an empty, meaningless dance around the stage dressed in loose trousers and T shirt - it looks like a warm-up exercise. Overall Ripe is a fresh, energising, captivating celebration of physical movement, art and life.
When and Where
Dance Base (Venue 22), 14-16 Grassmarket. Runs 17-22 August, different times each day, (not Sun).Vivien Devlin, August 2004
Return to Index of 2004 Fringe Reviews.
Where else would you like to go in Scotland?
