Edinburgh Fringe Dance, Physical Theatre & Circus reviews: Look At Them! | Circolombia: Corazón | Rollercoaster | Dance N’Speak Easy | Taiwan Season: Lost Connection

Young dancers trying to find their place in our chaotic age and ‘the world’s most popular juggler’ are among the highlights of our latest Fringe dance, physical theatre and circus reviews

Look At Them! by Wen Xiaochao Physical Theatre | Contributed

DANCE, PHYSICAL THEATRE & CIRCUS

Look At Them! ★★★★

ZOO Southside – Main House (Venue 82) until 9 August 

Directed by award-winning Chinese choreographer Wen Xiaochao, Look At Them! is a keen observation of our contemporary moment as seen through the eyes of younger generations. 

The company of young dancers begins as one mass. They are surrounded by music, by noise. They writhe in a world that is simultaneously deathless and dying, moving quickly, working hard. 

The stage pulsates; the air aches with light. We recognise this world intimately. Instantly. The fighting, everywhere. The sound of its seas, its forests, its fires. The dancers are confronted by cravings at every turn – temptation is everywhere these days, it’s true. Addiction too. 

It is in their phones, their food. Their booze, their cigarettes, their sex. They are young, but they are tired. So, the dancers fall still, sometimes stopping, screaming, or striking out, going solo. The spaces they create for themselves are never sacred for long, soon punctured by people. Other places, again. Other pressures.

As a group, they reckon with the freneticism of their age offstage. And while a sense of narrative isn’t always easy to discern, it’s clear that each character is dealing with demons. The piece is not without humour: comedy is rife in fact, well-judged and well-timed. The troupe laugh at themselves, at their peers. They recognise how things look from the outside, how they seem.

Xiaochao’s choreography is elegant and angular, full of striking images, with props that point to new wisdoms, politics, and technologies. Underneath it all, hums the dual senses of frustration and respect they have for their elders, and their readiness to inherit a beautiful, burning world.

At once empowering and exhilarating, Look At Them! shouts it’s creed without saying a single word. “Don’t worry,” their bodies say. “You’ll understand when you’re younger!” Josephine Balfour-Oatts

DANCE, PHYSICAL THEATRE & CIRCUS

Circolombia: Corazón ★★★★

Assembly George Square Gardens – Palais du Variété (Venue 3) until 25 August

There are only so many tricks in any circus company’s armoury, so it is the added extras that separate one show from another. By virtue of its hometowns of Cali and Bogota in Columbia, Circolombia arrives with a South American spirit rushing through its veins and out of its soundsystem. New show Corazón follows in the footsteps of the company’s previous Fringe hits and once again proves the troupe to be likeable and fun party-starters.

As the title suggests, love is in the air and after a beautiful opening song, we find two former sweethearts locking horns. He wants her back, she’s not interested – but this is circus, so their argument takes place with them hanging upside down by their feet on a major piece of apparatus

With each routine requiring technical re-configuration, it is down to our sassy and witty emcee to keep us occupied, which she does in fine style. Dressed in an ever-changing array of sequined catsuits (the costumes throughout are fabulous) she sings, raps, teaches us Spanish and helps us build a soundscape with our hands and voices.

With rigging in place, the strength and skill of two aerial performers comes into play. Swinging and soaring through the air, they hang by their hands, feet and mouth, balancing high with legs wide. Costumes and props embellish each act so nothing is straightforward, everything has an extra dimension. A strongman in a pink gimp mask and his petite co-performer provide the athletic acrobatics with flips and jumps, hand balances and high lifts. Then they’re up on the trapeze and flying over our heads with grace and (seeming) ease. 

All of which is backed by an array of original Colombian music, lip-synched to perfection by the acrobats and aerial artistes, or sung live by our leading lady. Technically proficient as always, Circolombia always knows how to deliver the goods, but it’s their vibrant personalities that seal the deal. Kelly Apter

DANCE, PHYSICAL THEATRE & CIRCUS

Rollercoaster ★★★★

Assembly Roxy – Central (Venue 139) until 26 August

Wes Peden is a big fan of rollercoasters. He loves riding on them, learning about them, even building them in computer games. Peden has also been voted “the world’s most popular juggler” ten years running, and when those two elements combine, this is what you get. A contemporary juggling show that celebrates the speed, motion, highs and lows of a theme park’s best-loved attraction.

The stage is dominated by three huge inflatable objects, shaped to look like the twists and contours of a rollercoaster track. Next to them lay pieces of translucent tubing, and in the middle of it all stands Peden, dressed in orange trousers, shoes and top (even his hair is orange). As he starts to manipulate the tubing, passing an orange ball along it then deftly dropping it out, it becomes clear that Peden and his props have a strong bond.

Juggling supremo Wes Peden | Florence Schroeder

Watching a juggling show can sometimes be a stressful affair, as you sit there hopeful nothing falls – and if it does, that the performer will bounce back effortlessly. But as Peden’s pedigree precedes him, we know we’re in safe hands. Not only that, but halfway through the show we’re almost willing him to fail. As awful as that sounds, it’s actually a key part of the set-up. Plucking seven clubs from a fluffy orange (of course) container, Peden starts to juggle. As with his other tricks, the clubs fly so quickly, and Peden is so dextrous, it’s hard to work out what’s happening – only that it looks great.

If he succeeds, the win is celebrated. But if he fails, he is forced to do an even more difficult trick. It seems likely some of these “failures” are faked, just to give him access to a bag of increasingly bizarre props, but we’re with him all the way. Kelly Apter

DANCE, PHYSICAL THEATRE & CIRCUS

Dance N’Speak Easy ★★★

Underbelly, Bristo Square – McEwan Hall (Venue 302) until 26 August

There’s no shortage of talent on stage in this hip hop and commercial dance show from France. Each of the performers in Wanted Posse is in complete command of their craft, whether they’re delivering synchronised toprock, fast windmills or strong L-kicks. Clearly, they’ve been doing this for years and are very much at home in the hip hop genre. So far so good. But there’s something strangely lacking here, which a show of this size should have in spades: atmosphere. 

Set in a New York bar during the 1920s, the stage is adorned with bottles, some even hanging from the ceiling as part of the lighting design. Imbibing a little too much of their contents, the men start to brawl and there’s a little too much testosterone in the room. Relief arrives in the form of a female performer, dressed in high heels and a shimmering cocktail dress. After much strutting around, we finally see her dance. 

Moments like these, and several scenes which see the men sitting around a table, drag the momentum. The choreography feels repetitive and uninspired: the whole show lacks meaningful direction. Which, with dancers of this high calibre, feels like a wasted opportunity. Kelly Apter

DANCE, PHYSICAL THEATRE & CIRCUS

Taiwan Season: Lost Connection ★★★

Summerhall – Main Hall (Venue 26) until 25 August

At first, watching Lost Connection is not dissimilar to walking down the street. Everyone on stage is looking at their phone, face illuminated in the glow, disinterested in anything around them. The four dancers come together, arms interlocked or climbing onto each other, but still the phone draws their eyes.

As the show’s title suggests, Seed Dance Company from Taiwan is keen to make a statement about modern life and how we interact. Whether they succeed beyond the obvious is debatable: the piece offers little in the way of suggestion or reconnection. But choreographer Wen-Jen Huang certainly knows how to create engaging dance, and there is much of that to enjoy here.

Dressed entirely in grey (with their hair also dyed grey for the occasion) – an easy-to-grasp metaphor for lives devoid of colour – the dancers have an urgency and purpose that propels the piece along. Strong lifts, dynamic entrances and atmospheric music ensure the pace never drops. Huang even uses the costumes to drive home her point further, as faces disappear inside the material to echo our disconnect from the world while glued to our devices. Effective but perhaps overused, the stretched fabric gives the performers a non-human appearance, compounding their separation from each other and us. Kelly Apter