ROAM - Tom Dale Company

Returning to the Fringe after last year’s sell-out production of RISE, Tom Dale Company invites audiences to venture with them into the unknown.

In an age of postmodern isolation, ROAM explores the way in which life is a constant quest to find what we never knew we were looking for. Examining the links made throughout the journey into understanding, ROAM is a fine example of the contemporary trend towards work that deals with interconnection. The dancers are fuelled by the pulse of an electronic score, featuring tracks by Shackleton and Sion, and supported by the words of poet, Rick Holland. Eclecticism is embraced in choreography drawing on styles ranging from ballet to the Japanese contemporary expressionist dance form of Butoh.

This dark and earthy work has an underground feel as it juxtaposes aggressive, fast-paced movement with spells of consciously controlled technique. Encountering each other on their pathways, the dancers remain distinct individuals plummeting into abstraction. As the programme note warns, it is “not meant to be read but experienced” in all its visual and aural glory. It favours art over amusement; questions over answers. Both the dance and its track are expressive but without resolution.

Tom Dale presents this fiercely thoughtful work with the intention of enticing adventurous audiences to a boundary-breaking dance platform. Where better to find such spectators than at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe? If you are bold enough, then pay a visit to Zoo Southside this August and see what you think.