FESTIVAL FEATURES | Interactive Dance Shows FESTIVAL FEATURES | Interactive Dance Shows
CAN YOU HANDLE THIS?
Want to learn how to dance like Beyonce? There’s a Fringe show for that. Maud Sampson goes in search of her inner Sasha Fierce
L et’s be honest - who doesn’t want to dance like Ms Beyonce Knowles? She is quite literally the dei nition of sexy; in her Destiny’s Child days she wrote smash-hit song ‘Bootylicious’, a word that later made it into the dictionary to mean a sexually attractive woman.
Fresh from a sell-out run at the Adelaide Fringe, Bey Dance Workshop promises to turn you into ‘the obnoxious person outshining everyone else on the dance l oor with all the steps to Beyonce’s iconic dances’. l admit I’m feeling apprehensive before going along to the class, led by Aussie Liz Cahalan at the Gilded Balloon. For a start, I don’t think I’ve ever tried to move like Yonce this early in the morning. But on arrival I’m relieved to see the other participants don’t look like Bey’s backup dancers. Liz immediately reassures us no dance experience is required, only enthusiasm, emphasising that i nding your inner Sasha Fierce is just as important as nailing the dance moves.
We dive straight into a bouncy warm-up, and using inspired anecdotes to help us get into character (‘walk like you’re squishing a bug with every step, ladies’), Liz teaches us some individual moves to nail Mrs Carter’s routines. The art of keeping the whole body still whilst only moving your hips is
24 THE LIST FESTIVAL 7–14 Aug 2014
particularly difi cult to master, but it gets the class laughing and our inhibitions begin to lift.
Liz’s unwavering love of Beyonce as a dancer and independent woman is infectiously feel-good (‘dance like you know everyone’s watching and you don’t care, you do look damn good’) as she breaks down the original choreography into manageable steps. In one class, we manage to get through a routine set to Liz’s own mash up of Beyonce songs, combining pop-cutesy 70s boy band slides in ‘Love on Top’ with dancehall-inspired and reggae body-popping in ‘End of Time’. Throughout, Liz constantly tells us to inject more sass into our moves and it seems to be working. By the time we end with ‘Diva’, I feel a little bit more like the diva herself. It doesn’t seem to matter that none of us have really got the routine down by the end of the two hours, and this is what makes the class work. A i nal ‘performance’ is i lmed at the end and put up on the Facebook page so we can practise our moves at home, and I leave the class feeling sweatily satisi ed that girls do run the world.
3 MORE . . . INTERACTIVE DANCE SHOWS Prance, swing, shimmy or whirl your way along to one of these participatory shindigs
MORNING GLORYVILLE Described as ‘an immersive morning dance experience for those who dare to challenge morning culture’, Morning Gloryville are preparing to bring their 9am raves to Edinburgh, having already successfully launched in 11 other cities. There will also be yoga, coffee and massages on hand. Underbelly Bristo Square, 623 3030, until 9, 16, 23 Aug, 9am, £9. BAL MODERNE Inspired by the song and dance culture of First World War-era Europe, Bal Moderne invites participants to really get into the swing of things by dressing up in period outfits to immerse themselves in the routines, which have been specifically designed for those who have rudimentary experience in dance. The Hub, 473 2000, 15–17 Aug, 2.30pm, £12.
THIS IS CONTEMPORARY ICE SKATING Mixing ice skating with contemporary dance styles, a group of young and irreverent Franco- Canadian upstarts, who have backgrounds in traditional figure skating, present this performance art piece.It showcases their aerobic, expressive approach, and challenges the concepts of ice skating itself. Followed by a self-proclaimed ‘party on the ice’. Murrayfield Ice Rink, 07532 181402, 3–4, 9–11, 13, 17, 20 & 22–23 Aug, times vary, £15 (£13) (£38 family ticket).
Bey Dance Workshop, Gilded Balloon Teviot, 7-10, 14-17, 21-24 Aug, 10am, £8 (£7). (Colin Robertson)