festival DANCE & PHYSICAL THEATRE
DANCE BASE Scotland’s national dance centre captures the zeitgeist this Fringe
Every August, buildings across Edinburgh are transformed from ordinary halls, hotels and lecture theatres into theatrical spaces – but one venue in particular is true to its genre year-round. Dance Base, Scotland’s National Centre for Dance, is a regular home to classes and workshops – and during the Fringe, productions celebrating dance in all its glorious forms arrive from around the world.
From energetic tap to narrative ballet, l amenco to African, there are 24 shows to choose from at Dance Base, created in Scotland, Taiwan, Australia, Finland, Ireland, South Africa and more. And the woman responsible for travelling
far and wide to cherry pick this basket of dance delights, artistic director Morag Deyes, spotted a commonality she hadn’t initially noticed was there. ‘Programming can be quite a magical
thing,’ she says, ‘because you make all these decisions based on what you’re seeing, and then you realise there’s something that binds all of them together. And I discovered that the programme is a conglomeration of what the zeitgeist is at the moment, especially in young artists’ lives. It’s dei nitely about history in the making, about big changes and what people believe in and feel passionate about.’ (Kelly Apter) ■ Dance Base, 3–26 Aug, times and prices vary, see dancebase.co.uk for full programme
For more info go to LIST.CO.UK /FESTIVAL 1–8 Aug 2018 THE LIST FESTIVAL 81