Ballet Black: Shadows, Edinburgh review: 'captivating'

Ballet Black: Shadows, Edinburgh Festival Theatre ★★★★

Unlike a meal, where the various courses complement each other, a dance programme often has to cater to all palates. Ballet Black’s Shadows tour does an especially good job of that, made all the more enjoyable by the current crop of dancers who each have talent dripping from every toe.

Helga Paris-Morales and Isabela Coracy in Ballet Black's My Sister, The Serial Killer | Photography by ASH

If you like your dance served on the abstract side, leaving room for interpretation, Chanel DaSilva’s A Shadow Work is ripe for exploration. The piece takes its name from a term often used during the therapeutic process, where we delve inside the parts of ourselves we’d rather not acknowledge. Here, they are quite literally boxed away, opened only occasionally to let the light in, and the demons out.

Taraja Hudson’s liquid movement is captivating, slicing between grace and gravitas as she dives into her inner psyche. Dancing alongside (as therapist or pivotal family figure, you choose) Acaoã De Castro weaves the box around her, daring her to lift the lid. When she does, the emotional baggage tumbles out, beautifully embodied by the ensemble as David Plater’s striking lighting design floods the stage.

By contrast, Cassa Pancho’s My Sister, The Serial Killer is an exercise in crystal clear storytelling. Adapted from Oyinkan Braithwaite’s novel, the piece will hit the spot with anyone who likes their narrative handed to them on a plate. That said, there is no shortage of imagination in Pancho’s delivery, as she introduces us to two sisters – one who kills, the other who cleans up after her. A cast of hospital patients and workers, partygoers, and the ghosts of boyfriends past flesh out the stage nicely.

A little psychological digging or backstory would have made the siblings more three dimensional, but there is enough drama, intrigue and (surprisingly) fun on offer to keep us hooked.

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