£350,000 hip-hop Hogmanay to light up depths of winter

Published on Wednesday 2 September 2009 22:02

A £350,000 dance extravaganza fusing Scottish traditions with the work of contemporary choreographers is a highlight of Edinburgh's Hogmanay line-up.

The Off Kilter show at the Edinburgh Festival Theatre, running for five days over the turn of the year, ranges from Highland dance to hip-hop and Indian classical styles. It will tour to Aberdeen and Glasgow.

It will premiere work by New York choreographer Mark Morris, a favourite for years at the Edinburgh International Festival, and Scottish Ballet's artistic director, Ashley Page.

As Fringe venues and performers leave the capital behind for another year, the Traverse Theatre has also unveiled plans to keep the festival spirit alive this winter.

The Traverse – which won 20 awards for its Fringe shows this year, including seven Scotsman Fringe Firsts – will host a two-week November mini-festival of new music, theatre and dance. The coming months will also see a production using 3-D technology; the Fringe First show Story of a Rabbit and a swashbuckling Christmas production Zorro.

"What we are always trying to do is keep that festival buzz going year round," said Traverse artistic director Dominic Hill.

Off Kilter will get 343,000 in funding from the Scottish Government's Expo fund, which encourages creations by Scottish-based artists. Edinburgh's Hogmanay organisers, Unique Events, have joined forces with Edinburgh's Dance Base and the Festival Theatre to create the production. Morris's new dance piece is based on Beethoven's Scottish folk song arrangements. Dance Base director Morag Deyes will oversee the show.

She said yesterday: "Having Mark there is a testament to how he feels about Dance Base and about Scotland. He has never done a piece specifically about Scotland – this is a first."

The event will feature perhaps a dozen pieces, a "patchwork quilt" that takes a new look at Scottishness to show that "Scotland is fresh," she said.

It will include commissioned works from traditional dance expert Frank McConnell, and other contributors include Martyn Bennett and Calvin Harris.

Culture minister Mike Russell said it would create "a spectacular showcase of styles that are alive and kicking in Scotland".

John Stalker, chief executive of Edinburgh Festival Theatres, said: "If you are going to have a party when better than Hogmanay?"