Fringe dance reviews: Inlet | Balfour Reparations | Africa Power: The Colour of Water

Inlet ★★★★

Assembly @ Dance Base (Venue 22) until 23 August

Choreographer Saeed-Hani and dancers Francesco Ferrari, Ana F. Melero, and Michele Scappa explore borders and boundaries in Inlet, a riveting work of movement-art inspired by the legend Romulus and Remus. The piece is performed mostly naked, and the dancers celebrate the human body as a vehicle for creation, for good and for ill, engaging in rich, almost ritualistic sequences, wherein they build a wall.

The concept recalls President Donald Trump’s 2016 election promise to build “a big, beautiful wall” between the US and Mexico, and sure enough, white bricks are carefully pieced together onstage, becoming a monolith that grows scene by scene. Metal spheres are balanced on top of the bricks, destabilising the action by acting as obstacles, in addition to offering moments of pause.

The three dancers pick their way through the space, crawling across the floor, and bending their bodies into angular, animalistic shapes. The piece is never gratuitous as their limbs intertwine – two portray the twin brothers of the Roman myth, and one is the she-wolf – and their shadows overlap. One forgets that they are naked at all, so that when clothing is introduced, it seems strange. The clothes are loose and flowing, invoking the title of the piece, and evoking restriction by creating a dam between their bodies and the world. As the wall grows, they have less freedom of movement.

It is a work highlighting the negative consequences of walls – their capacity to separate and confine. This can be found in the dancers’ movements as they interject one another, or move out of sync, as if refusing external viewpoints and perspectives. Through synchronised movements, group sequences, and solos, they dismantle, reshape, and rebuild the wall that binds them. The result is a precise, hypnotic, and haunting piece that will be hard to leave behind.

Josephine Balfour-Oatts

Balfour Reparations ★★★

Summerhall (Venue 26) until 25 August

There is enormous radical potential to be found in conceptualising ongoing futures: Farah Saleh’s unusual and surprising Balfour Reparations knows this well. A veteran choreographer in the Scottish dance scene, Saleh’s latest piece is part of an ongoing project in which Palestinian narratives are performed through the body. In the case of Balfour Reparations, these narratives are imaginary: the show takes place in the year 2045, when the UK government has agreed to enact a series of reparations for its role in the occupation and destruction of Palestine following the 1917 Balfour Declaration.

Balfour Reparations unfolds as a series of participatory vignettes: members of the audience read the fictional document as Saleh dances against their words; they imagine further reparations which are recorded and looped against a subsequent dance piece; and they suggest concrete actions right now they can take. The format encourages engagement, yet there is a slight political inertia that underpins the proceedings: it is notable how much the audience’s imaginations shrink when translating the second part’s words into the third part’s actions. Balfour Reparations works best when it functions as a project of incitement rather than catharsis: existing in bodily actions rather than words.

Anahit Behrooz

READ MORE: EIF dance review: Scottish Ballet’s Mary, Queen of Scots

Africa Power: The Colour of Water ★★★

Assembly Rooms (Venue 20) until 24 August

There is much to love about this ambitious new show from Johannesburg-based company, Dam Ditty Doo. Keen to step away from the stereotypical aspects (some good, some bad) of South African life, they’re keen to address an environmental issue head-on. As the name suggests, water lies at the centre of this narrative - a vital element often missing from Johannesburg's taps. The storyline, such as it is, is conveyed through animation and voiceovers, little of which appears to have any bearing on the action on stage.

But if we push the slightly bizarre structure aside, the choreography and performance is a gift worth unwrapping. A dynamic mix of street dance and traditional African dance, set to a fast-paced backing track, the movement is executed with absolute conviction. The ensemble comes together beautifully during synchronised moments, then demonstrates individual flair and personality in solos and duets. While an equally strong vocalist adds a welcome live element to the music.

At times, it feels like we’re watching three shows in one, with choreography, a confusing tale about a pangolin, and a worthy environmental message all fighting for supremacy. Dance is by far the overall winner.

Kelly Apter

READ MORE: Best Fringe Shows: Every 5-star show at the 2025 Edinburgh Festival Fringe according to Scotsman critics

Anatomy of a Night ★★

Summerhall (Venue 26) until 25 August

A love letter to the queer potential of club culture, Anatomy of a Night is – in many ways – just like being at the club. Charli xcx and Britney give way to heavier, techno-influenced sounds, as dancer Nick Nikolaou slips on different personas as he does costumes: the raver, the performer, the friendly fellow clubber in the queue. The theory is sound, but – just like being at the club – passively watching someone else have fun with no context or connection quickly becomes tiring. Nikolaou’s dancing is accomplished, but Anatomy of a Night ends up too one-note to truly be a great night out.

Anahit Behrooz

Dancehall Blues ★★★

Assembly @ Dance Base (Venue 22) until 24 August

There is a hint of danger right from the off in this multi-layered show from Ireland’s CoisCéim. A photograph of people enjoying themselves in a 1950s dancehall may cover the wall, but the two performers standing before us are dressed head to foot in protective gear. What noxious substance are they trying to evade, and who lies beneath the face coverings?

The questions come thick and fast, with very few answers. Not that contemporary dance should ever do the thinking for you, but a clearer emotional steer would be nice. An overlong scene, during which the dancers dart to avoid a swinging disco ball, eventually comes to an end, and their personas are revealed. Overalls shed, a man and woman attempt to connect. Shoes are pulled on and lights are illuminated, in a bid to seize the moment - but as sirens wail and walls crumble, the outside world threatens to engulf them.

Choreographer David Bolger gives these technically strong dancers more than enough to demonstrate their skill. And there is a sense, like the Titanic musicians playing on, that these dancehall dwellers will keep going despite the debris crashing around them. But the true meaning of this piece feels frustratingly opaque.

Kelly Apter

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