? The drop
All the movers and shakers in town
The Glasgow-born director of the most successful musical in the world is hoping to make BOUNCE the most successful show on the ange.
Words: Jackie McGlone
nthony van Laast has just Ahot-footed it back to his
swish London home from the States, where his Tony award- laden show Mamma Mia.’ is the toast of Broadway. ‘I’m stunned,’ says the Scottish choreographer. rubbing his trademark bald head in bewilderment.
The Abba tribute show is now the most successful musical in the world with five major productions selling out. ‘We didn’t think it would run a month when we opened it,’ he says, although his acclaimed work ranges from Jesus Christ Superstar t0 the Sex Pistols’ film The Great Roek’n'Ro/l Swindle. In a couple of days he’s off to Sydney for Mamma Mia’s opening there. Tomorrow. he’s checking up on Bombay Dreams, the newly-opened Bollywood musical in the West End that he has created with long-time collaborator Andrew Lloyd Webber.
In between, pausing only to catch his breath and see his wife, their four children (they‘ve two each from previous marriages), and his grandson. he‘s preparing for the Edinburgh opening of his terrific street dance show, Bounce.
The youthful-looking 50-year-old and c0- producer Nick Grace have backed this wildly energetic celebration of breakdancing. Despite working on blockbusting, multi-million pound spectaculars, Van Laast also likes to choreograph smaller. less showy productions to tour around the European dance circuit.
Bounce originated in Sweden when he was staging Grease there. One of his dancers was a hip hop fanatic. She brought her breakdancers into rehearsals and the resulting show is now one of the hottest tickets in Europe. I saw it in Munich where the young German audience screamed and shouted their appreciation of locking and popping as if they were at a rock concert.
Van Laast has had to learn a whole new dance vocabulary, from boogalooing (the moonwalk’s a typical move) to b-boying. He’s also incorporated other street dance into the show, including the lindy hop, which developed on the sidewalks of New York’s Harlem, as well as tap, which originated with clog dancers in Lancashire.
Although he no longer dances due to a back injury
30 THI LI8T FESTIVAL GUIDE 1—8 Aug 2002
‘lt’s a very but individual show that hymns the joy of being alive’ van
Ar 1/”
With The Great Rock’n’Roll Swindle and Bombay Dreams under his belt, Anthony van Laast has turned to street dance in Bounce
— he uses assistants to demonstrate moves — he has had a go at popping. which includes hitting (contracting the muscles). robot and mime. He has not. though. tried spinning on his shayen head like the show‘s leading exponents of the art. the exuberant Wil Power and Lil' Cesar. both of whom hail from the ghettoes of Los Angeles and grew up in the ‘old skool‘ of hardcore breaking. 'Do not try this at home.‘ he warns.
After Edinburgh. the show tours to London’s Roundhouse and then‘.’ ‘Who knows‘." he says. ‘I never cease to be amazed in this business as to what suddenly becomes an overnight sensation. Look at Mamma Mia.’ I‘m thrilled that people love it. but I'm still surprised that it's such a hit. particularly in
America. Of course. everyone wants to find the new 721/) Dogs. Bounce isn‘t the new anything. It‘s a very individual show that hymns the joy of being alive.’ A Glaswegian horn and bred. Laast took his Dutch ballerina mother's maiden name when he started dancing professionally at 17 because there was already an Anthony Hawkins on Equity/"s books. The son of a military family. he‘s intensely proud of his roots and has filled his St John‘s Wood house — a former pub. it used to be the Beatles‘ local when recording at EMI's Abbey Road studios — with paintings by Scottish artists. His country house in the Cotswolds is a shrine to Jack Vettriano‘s work.
‘You can take the boy out of Scotland. but you
can‘t take Scotland out of the boy.‘ he says.
Bounce, Assembly Rooms, 226 2428, 2-17Aug, 7.15pm; 18-24 Aug, 5.35pm; 25 8. 26 Aug, 5pm, 210—21 1 (29—210).
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FESTIVAL DANCE
Make all the right moves
I Dance Base Just a year after it first opened its doors. our stunning new dance centre has yet another packed fringe programme. Reflecting its eclectic year-round remit, the line-up features a new solo from the lovely Rosie Kay, humorous contemporary dance from Air Dance Company and Scottish Dance Theatre. and some seriously funky Pacific song and dance from the inimitable Mika. See preview. Dance Base ist—5th Move, Dance Base, 225 5525, 2—7 7 Aug (classes 2—37 Aug) 25—88.
I Bounce A spectacular show which takes the coolest street dancing from the boogaloo to breaking and popping and turned it into a slick and polished hi-octane show. Performed by an international cast, it's a strong contender to be the feelgood hip hop hit of the festival. See preview. Assembly Rooms, 226 2428, 2—26 Aug, times vary, $70—$77 (SQ—£70).
I Mousson (Monsoon) Music. choreography and theatre cohabit in perfect unison with this enchanting piece by Parisian company. Au Cul du Loup. Monsoon tells the (unspoken) story of an imaginary island and its people struggling against the violence of climatic and industrial changes. See Aurora Nova preview. St Stephen ’3. 558 3853, 3—24 Aug (not 5. 72 & 79 Aug), times vary, £7—E9.
I Ful Acclaimed Spanish dance troupe Nats Nus Dansa present Ful, a self-effacing and highly amusing look at the ‘art of living' in the face of constant technological changes. See Aurora Nova preview. St Stephen ’3, 558 3853, 70—23 Aug (not 72 879 Aug). times vary, 27—89.
I Upside Down 2001 Fringe First winner Dotheatre returns to the festival fold as three absurd ghosts enact mysterious anatomical rituals in a Faustian laboratory. See Aurora Nova preview. Theatre Workshop, 226 5426, 8—77 Aug, 9.30pm, 87—29.