Mushroom: In-the-Making Collective

Tucked away down a cobbled street away from the Festival bustle, Spaces with its bare white walls and studio space may usually be home to art exhibitions, but it proves perfect for this show by a dance collective, made up of many familiar faces in the Scottish dance community. Mushroom, an experimental piece involving 10 dancers, explores group dynamics. Though devised collectively, each performance is slightly different as improvisation takes off in new directions.

Just like the spores of a mushroom, the group coalesce or spread out, apparently at random or in pairs where one initiates a movement and the partner responds, where perhaps a sharp forward movement will be countered with a soft falling away; other pairs may imitate the moves but with individualistic variations. Hints of Scottish reels or games like Simon Says creep in and then dissolve into more random moves again. But even in abstract moves, emotional relationships appear to develop. An older woman dancing with a younger man, inevitably suggests mother and son, and interestingly the son is the more supportive.

A fascinating experience affording insight into how dance can be generated and develop. Pop along if you are a student choreographer or just a dance-lover.