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Many People
This was the new major commission of the San Francisco Ballet in 2024, which debuts in Europe at the Edinburgh International Festival. An ambitious production with great visuals, it’s a show for our time: an AI-themed retelling of the Pandora’s box legend by choreographer Aszure Barton. Music by British artist Floating Points, who perform live, with musicians.
Edinburgh Playhouse, 28-30 August
Ihsane
Belgian-Moroccan composer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui is a prolific creator, whether he’s creating Madonna’s choreography or creating his own elaborate and multi-layered dance performances. Ihsane is among the latter, a meditation on Cherkaoui’s Moroccan roots and the cycles of destruction and rebirth, grief and hope. Featuring music from Tunisian viola d’amore player Jasser Haj Youssef.
Theater festival, 18-20 August
Good Enough?
The Danish company Himherandit had a big success a few years ago with the Mass Effect sweatshop competition. This follow-up is a very different prospect, just three actors, each chair and a microphone, telling the stories of their lives in a theater made of joy and vulnerability.
SUmmerhall, 19-30 August
Under the Mask
Taiwanese choreographer Lai Yun-Chi is a former member of Shechter II, Hofesh Shechter’s sub-company, which is made up of the world’s best young dancers, so the Edinburgh debut of his company Maiantia is exciting. Under the Mask draws on his family’s history as leather workers and uses amazing steampunk-style masks.
Workshop @ Dance Base, 6-30 August
Ballet Night
A staple of London’s dance calendar, Ballet Nights has now embarked on a national tour, including its first performances. It is a type of gala- or cabaret with a lively compere and a wide variety of performances, from the most advanced ballet to new dances, including the latest music.
House of Music at the Convention Center, 24-30 August
Palestine Circus
A circus group based in Birzeit, north of Ramallah, the Palestinian Circus participated in last year’s Glastonbury festival and now they are taking their performance to the final stage. Their show Step and a Half was inspired by the rhythms of the Palestinian dance dabkehmixing traditional and contemporary circus.
Underbelly’s Circus Hub at the Meadows, 8-29 August
Flamenco Oh!!
A flamenco comedy show from Spain (produced by London’s Sadler’s Wells) that sends up flamenco cliches with a lot of romance. They’re calling it an “irreverent tribute” rather than a parody – it’s a proper flamenco dance and music from a great performer, with a good sense of humor on the side.
House of Music at the Convention Center, 6-30 August
At the exit
Belgian circus artist Piet Van Dycke’s Exit consists of a seemingly simple set of walls and doors that turn into a circular path through which four performers can walk (each performing a different performance: teeterboard, aerial belts, trapeze and giant dance). It is a constant dance of arrival and departure, appearance and disappearance.
Southside Zoo, 18-30 August
Savina boys
Marc Brew is a very successful Australian dancer Danger / Lifeabout the car accident that left him paralyzed. Boys Who Don’t Dance is another notable work, reflecting his childhood love of dance and the public’s response to it, featuring BMX, wheelchair dancing and an 80s soundtrack.
Workshop @ Dance Base, 7-23 August
Twelve: Going Far
New York composer Marisa F Ballaro makes her Edinburgh debut with a dance piece set in a boxing ring. Five women see if they can go the extra mile for 12 trips as loyalties and conflicts play out and exhaustion sets in.
Summerhall, 6-16 August
Glob
For your annual dose of French-Canadian entertainment, give it a shot at Les Foutoukours and their Glob show. Winner of the young audience award at the Avignon festival, it features two cute creatures with magical noses, and it’s a time to relax from the world for over five years.
Underbelly, Bristo Square, 5-30 August
Everyone Has a Bomb
Riley Fitzgerald has danced with the Sydney Dance Company and the Ballet National de Marseille, and is now developing her own career. Everybody’s Got a Bomb was inspired by the documentary about Woodstock 99 – an attempt to recreate the famous festival, marred by violence – full of frustration, anger and chaos that reigns when people are disturbed.
Southside Zoo, 7-16 August
