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stage and generally loses rierselt and the audience, in the slow and painful process.
Are Underbelly trying to fill their rooms or just fulfil their quota of dance and physical theatre. serving up the wackiness that Fringe tourists feel they ought to see? This sort of performance must he criticrsed for the defence of the genre as a whole. The Vorce of Things grates as the idea of physucal theatre. just as the tartan and hagprpe shops grate as the idea of Scotland.
Hayan Theatre make it very difficult to know what they are getting at -- so it's hard to know whether they get there or not. But this is cringewonhy and hard to watch, and not in a howl-me-over hurld-me-back up, Incarnat kind of a way. (Tom Tabonl I Underbel/y, 0870 7453083, until 26 Aug, 7. 70pm, £849 (E7—C8).
MELI MELo ll Inch-perfect dance parody 0000
Parody is a tricky thing to pull off. There's a risk that. while attempting to pOint out the abSurdlty of the medium y0u're lampooning, yOu destroy what made rt worth imitating in the first place. Happily, Chicos Mambos succeed in negotiating that dlffICult balance In this outrageous. affectionate tribute to various forms of dance.
Admittedly some of the routines here Outstay their welcome rather earlier than others: the Little Mermaid spoof. for Instance. IS little more than lip- Synchrng with natty props. The most inspired seouences are those where the dancers' skill and intricate knowledge allows them to subvert a familiar rOutine.
Highlights include a take-off of the Esther Williams bathing beauties films of the 505. Whlle there‘s also an inch perfect version of the Pas de Deux from Swan Lake in which Prince Siegfried spons a giant codplece. Even the ludicrously lengthy Curtain call IS spot on.
The costumes are integral to the
JOHN MORAN AND HIS NEIGHBOUR, SAORI
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BALLERINA WHO LOVES A B-BOY
If you see just one Korean breakdance show this year...
Although it's been crammed into a hotel function room better suited to the cringey frugging of a wedding disco, this gleeful little production is the most assured and exuberant of the cluster of Korean breakdance shows infesting the Fringe this year.
The eponymous Sandy-and-Danny love story is really just an excuse for frenzied, freestyling displays of technical skill, as a ballerina clashes with the asbo- worthy noise pollutants preparing for a street dance competition outside her studio. It’s a heightened, hyper-real experience, from the tribal, Technicolor street fashions and joyous soundtrack to the beat- perfect moves. During the popping routines, you’re close enough to marvel as robotic jerks ripple through the dancers’ muscles and faces. If the ballet scenes feel a little lacklustre in comparison, they make our
34 THE LIST FESTIVAL MAGAZINE l6—23 Aug 200‘
hrs? T". this is not the shov. we're set: to see At time of fe\.'l(ré\.‘.'lrt:\l. f'te t:l)(.llylllOUS Saori was still in New ".irsing a burnt toot. By the end Moran's Edinburgh run, the Japanese dancer should be On stage
heroine’s decision to cast off her tutu all the more understandable.
Sadly, the central culture clash was mirrored offstage. Despite a wholly deserved standing ovation, the pre- show crash course in keeping the dancers hyped with whoops and cheers failed to make an impact on a stolidly embarrassed Edinburgh audience, who were practically sitting on their hands in dour determination not to betray their enjoyment. Breakdance performances feed off noisy interaction we’re not, as audiences, accustomed to supplying.
But when you’re watching human bodies whirl and lock in gravity-defying poses, the air is saturated with endorphins from the frenetic, relentless energy of the performances, and you’ve got a grin stretching your face in spite of yourself, it's okay to shout a little. In fact, it's okay to scream yourself hoarse. (Kirstin lnnes) I clubWESTicJ-lrltrw, Off/fl 285 53/. F 4-7;)rii, until M1 Aug. P721392.