Dance Forms has been presenting performances at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe for 16 years, everything from classical to avant garde, from major company principals to unknowns. This year’s International Choreographers’ Showcase had major European and American ballet soloists and the iconic post-modern choreographer Douglas Dunn, who danced with Merce Cunningham’s company. As one expects from Dance Forms, were some very fine pieces.
The Fringe is not only about theater. There is also dance. Here are performances I found important. The classic Studies in Red, 3 girls 2 boys, twists, turns, high kicks and poses in excellent form was a highlight. This choreographers‘ showcase has been presented at the Fringe for 15 years, and it‘s a good chance to see an eclectic selection of creative dancers, ranging from traditional to minimal. In this case, the best were traditional!
Pilobolus takes dance theater to a new dimension, transforming the performers to silhouetted figures behind a screen, using body artistry to turn dancers into shadows of elephants, café tables, lobsters and a centaur.
It‘s a clever device that fascinates, though sometimes it seems more like mime or kinetic poses than dance.
Sometimes theater awards shows are a chore to sit through. Lots of “thank you, thank you…..” to boredom. But the Fred and Adele Astaire awards June 1 for best dancers and choreographers was a delight.
The top dancer awards went to Leanne Cope “An American Paris,” and in a tie vote, to Robert Fairchild, “An American in Paris” and to Tony Yazbeck, “On the Town.”
The Awards were established in 1982 by the Douglas Watt Family Fund for the Performing Arts, to recognize outstanding achievement in dance on Broadway and in film.
The very fine Broadway and cabaret singer Christine Andreas channels Edith Piaf in an elegant, sharp, charming dance production choreographed by Pascal Rioult, a former Martha Graham Dance Company principal dancer.
The space is a cabaret/dinner theater space at the 42West Nightclub. Tables are set around a center runway and look at a proscenium stage. Andreas in gamine hairdo, black glittery silk dress, looks (a bit) and sounds like Piaf, her trills and tremors.
