Dance theatre: Contains Spoilers, Zoo Southside (Venue 82), Edinburgh

By KELLY APTER
Published on 08/08/2012 11:42

THERE’S no doubt that TrashDollys Dance Company has a fine show in the making here, but a little dramaturgy would go a long way in clarifying their intentions and shining some much needed light on the narrative.

Contains Spoilers

Zoo Southside (Venue 82)

Star rating: * * *

Billed as a “twisted love story between an obsessed photographer and an unhinged widow”, the show starts with a large screen on one side of the stage, a photographer’s dark room on the other. Rows of photographs hang from a string, above mixing trays and chemicals – the potential of what they reveal a tantalising presence. On the screen, filmic images of the streets of London flash out at us.

Both performers have a quality that draws the eye, with the delicate beauty and sensitive movement of Holly Durant perfectly matched by Sam Amos’s ability to sew contemporary dance and breakdance together seamlessly.

So, apart from the odd moment when it coasts along at a soporific pace, this would work well as a piece of abstract dance.

But it’s not, there’s a definite story at work here, and a little more help reading it – without the need for spoon feeding – would do wonders.

• Until 11 August. Today 12:30pm.