FRINGE REVIEW: “Movement Within Jazz”

Movement Within Jazz – Venue 209: Greenside @ Nicolson Square – Lime Studio – 1.45pm

THIS show was headlined as, “Contemporary dance taking on the form of live jazz music. From a starting point of traditional, fully choreographed work progressing to an experimental style of improvised performance creating unique shows daily,” by the Hive Mind Dance Collective.

I’m a fan of jazz, even bebop jazz, which is a form of deconstructed jazz. I’m also a fan of dance in almost all its forms. This production had me confused. I could never quite work out who was leading the show. Were the dancers dancing to the music or was the music being improvised to the movement of the dancers? Perhaps that was one of the questions the production was asking of the audience.

The result, for me, of the lack of either musical or dance lead, left the impression that it was a discordant production. The synchronised choreographed dance routines were ably executed, the disconnect arose with the improvisation dance. To pull off an improvisation mix between music and dance is difficult enough for one dancer but to have two dancers both improvising their individual routines made for a confusion when the two united in a conjoined movement.

The musician, likewise, seemed to be leaderless, making the jazz more deconstructed than I’m used to hearing. Again, perhaps that’s a question being asked of the audience.

None of the above comments are to detract from the hard work that has gone into this production. The dancers were soaked in perspiration by the end of the production, illustrating their effort.

As it says in the headline of the show, “…creating unique shows daily” – perhaps another day I would have enjoyed it more.

If you like your dancing avant-garde and your jazz dissembled then this might be the production for you.

THREE STARS

Get the full details about the show here.

Plus, read more reviews on Scottish Field’s Fringe pages.