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COSSAOK PASSION Soviet song and dance extravaganza 0000

Forget the popular image of Russia as a cold. austere place. This excursion through the country's rich music and dance tradition is shamelessly noisy. colourful and energetic. The 20-plus brigade of performers transform the stage into a diZZying blur of multicoloured skirts and sleeves. a cacophony of clashing swords. stomping boots and kicking heels. And moustaches great bushy ones. Indeed. there's so much happening

where to look.

As well as the celebratOry (at times exceedingly camp) ensemble set pieces. there are also moments of clowning and amusing visual gags. as well as an opportunity for the nine- piece band to show off their versatility.

its length 50 minutes. I could have

CHAMBER MADE

Room service with a difference 0000

You know what dancers are like when they can’t get a sprung floor and an over-heated rehearsal studio. So you can imagine their reaction when they sign up to work with David Bolger’s CoisCéim Dance Theatre. The choreographer’s idea of a good performance space has included a nightclub, 3 bar and a cardboard box. True to form, his Dublin company has brought six dancers to Edinburgh to perform in bedroom 206 of the Caledonian, one of Edinburgh’s grandest - and least studio-like - hotels.

‘They do suffer from carpet burns,’ admits Bolger, who is also movement director for Druid’s JM Synge cycle in the International Festival. ‘Several people have said, “God, you really beat up your dancers,” because they can see the bruises.’

But bruises are a small price to pay for a show as good as this. Playing twice a night to an audience of 20, lined up in two neat rows on one side of the bedroom, Chamber Made is an erotically charged performance about love and desire made intense by the one-size-fits-all isolation of the hotel room.

Bolger is fascinated with the coming and going of hotel guests, the way each makes a temporary impression on a room then moves on. Chamber Made lets a voyeuristic audience catch a glimpse of the private lives of three couples at the same time, as if we’re seeing past, present and future all at once. ‘I always wonder who’s been in the room before,’ says Bolger. ‘They’re very odd spaces; they can be whatever you want them to be. It’s the idea of rooms having memories.’

Directed with a magician’s eye, the dancers appear like fleeting memories from behind the curtains, out of the shower or beneath the double bed. They are variously passionate, wistful, violent and sexy, their lives layered on top of each other, independent yet somehow connected. The more the show goes on, the more they seem to be linked by their common humanity.

Despite the real-life setting, the dancers’ moves don’t seem out of place, perhaps because any of us might skip across the floor and leap dramatically onto a king-size bed when left unobserved in a classy room for the night. Helped by director Katie Read’s clear sense of narrative and driven by Rory Pierce’s invigorating score, Bolger’s choreography stays rooted in the real, even as he liberates spirits and conjures up ghosts. Room service will never be the same again. (Mark Fisher)

I Traverse 6. Ca/edonian Hilton Hotel, until 27 Aug. (5pm 8. 8. ISpni. 5'15 (8460—29).

88 THE LIST FESTIVAL MAGAZINE 255 Aug» 8 Sop 2005;

onstage that. at times. you don‘t know

Cossack Passions only shortcoming is

sat through a show twice as long. (Allan Radcliffe)

I George Square Theatre, 662 8740, until 27Aug, 72.40pm. £9.50 (£7.50).

SCOTTISH DANCE THEATRE

Sweet, savage love 0000

Newcastle choreographer Liv Lorent‘s aptly-named Luxuria sends Scottish Dance Theatre into flights of ecstasy and super-charged yet tender yearning. This visceral swoon of a dance begins with a barmy but beautiful parade of cartwheels. rolls and wrist-flapping. head-shaking gyrations. The women wear flowing hoopskirts over camisoles and knickers. The men suggest intrepid parachutists. The costumes come with literal strings attached. symbolic of ties that bind. Lorent‘s dreamy choreographic glide derives much of its romantic propulsion from a lush. mostly classically pitched score.

Her dance operates out of a trembling. headlong rush of vulnerability that could at any moment topple over into a sweaty heap. Contrapuntal hopping and dizzying spins signal the passionate innocence and hungry. almost desperate highs of the human desire for connection. SDT's dancers surrender to the piece's lovesick challenge from toes to fingertips. performing with heroic trust and gorgeous. controlled abandon. Although quite conventional in terms of gender politics. Luxuria is hard to resist. (Donald Hutera)

I Seulhside. 226 0000, until 28 Aug, 7 7.30am. £7 (£5).

ANNE OF GREEN GABLES Little orphan Shakti .0.

It's nice to know that some things never change after 12 years at the Fringe. Shakti still knows how to

shock. Only this time. it's not her provocative moves or skimpy underwear which take us by surprise. but her curious adaptation of Anne of Green Gables. The Canadian coming of age novel. about an adolescent orphan adapting to pastures new. seems an odd choice for the Indo- Japanese dancer. And yet Shakti takes on the role of Anne with flair. Starting fully clothed and coy. she inevitably strips down to the bare essentials. as the eponymous young girl becomes a woman. Interesting musical choices - from Tanita Tikaram and Laurie Anderson to violinist Vanessa Mae drive the piece along. adding another layer of narrative to the tale. while Shakti‘s Indian dance training once again comes to the fore. mixed with her own unique style. Just when we thought we‘d seen it all. Shakti of the Fringe does it again. (Kelly Apter) I The Garage, 07708 280 076. 26&27 Aug, 8. 70pm, £70 (£9).

SCOTTISH BALLET Back in the big league

To paraphrase a famous band. it was 20 years ago today that Scottish Ballet played the Edinburgh International Festival. That's two whole decades since the company was deemed w0rthy of an invite. A handful of artistic directors have passed through the company doors during that time. none of them tough enough to whip the company back into shape. That is until Ashley Page arrived in late 2002. cleared out the dead wood and set Scottish Ballet back on track.

Emerging like a phoenix from the ashes. the company is now home to talented dancers from around the world. all eager to get their teeth into Mr George Balanchine. One of the most important. but most technically challenging. choreographers of the 20th century. Balanchine made many dazzling group works. And Scottish Ballet is about to perform three of them at this year's Festival something Page is understandably proud of: ‘Our presence at the Festival says a lot that we're respected and considered good enough to be part of it. that in itself is a big statement.’ (Kelly Apter)

I Edinburgh Playhouse, 4 73 2000, 26&27 Aug, 7.30pm; 28 Aug, 4pm, £7—E38.

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