Myriad

The Fringe brochure is the size of a telephone directory, but mentions of ballet are scarce within its pages. Myriad takes a theme - the individual and his or her relation to others - to stimulate a series of dances that flow fluidly into one another. Grounded in ballet and contemporary dance, Laban-trained David Beer draws from a varied palette of movement, and with his seamless blending of the two disciplines he creates some unique choreographic twists. Beer appears alongside two strong female dancers in choreography that retains the grace and physicality of classical ballet while sidestepping its limitations. The trio, none of whom leaves the stage in forty-five minutes, executes the movement with invigorating clarity and fresh-faced eagerness. They engage with each other and in this intimate space are unafraid to look the audience straight in the eyes. Amidst a plethora of concept-focused dance and physical theatre, Collusions Dance treats us to palette-cleansing, movement-driven contemporary ballet. It would be interesting to see the company return with more dancers and a bigger venue to give Beer and his dancers the opportunity to play with patterns and space.