Dance review: Human animal

THE thought-provoking beauty of contemporary dance rarely reaches beyond the niche audience that supports it, but sometimes a choreographer ventures outside the circle and takes the genre to the masses. Australian-born Janis Claxton is one such person, and Human Animal is the latest in a series of works exploring our place in the evolutionary big picture.

Claxton hit the headlines in 2008, with her award-winning Fringe show Enclosure 44 – Humans, which took over an enclosure at Edinburgh Zoo. Now she is back with her own mini compound, a Perspex box taking up residence in sites around Scotland.

The result is fascinating. Dancers sit, stand and climb on the box, or are locked inside by the "zoo keeper". Alpha female Claxton keeps the other four in check, as they eye up passers-by or attempt to break free.

Equally fascinating is the reaction their presence provokes. Signs surround the box – "Warning: these women may be dangerous", "Touching the Humans is strictly prohibited" – prompting smiles, curiosity and at times a complete inability to engage with something so off-kilter.

Aside from the overall concept and the variety of movement displayed, what impresses most about Human Animal is that the act never drops. The keeper chats amiably about the "human sub species known as 'dancer'", his hope that they'll mate and their inability to talk. But when they can say so much without words, why would they?