A New Dance Vocabulary: (Not) The Last Shimmy Skinny

My favourite press release of the entire Fringe came from 2Faced Dance. Between the pleas for a review and general self-aggrandisement came the beautiful message: “Celebrations as some people don’t like our new show”.

For the past two years, 2Faced have been showstoppers, their b-boy bounce and handsome, topless men filling auditoriums. This year, Still Breathing has stepped back from the high leaps, jazz hands and sweaty torsos to bring in a more measured and sophisticated contemporary. They still have the action: it is now tempered by more eclectic influences. Despite the luke-warm reviews, 2Faced are genuinely evolving, and the Fringe is exactly the right place for this.

There are nearly two hundred dance shows at the Fringe. The Shimmy has been thinking about some of these shows, and trying to find a way of talking about them that is neither lost in academic jargon nor too simple. Three weeks of racing around venues, catching late night shows and turning out daily editorials might have meant something did get lost in the translation. Yet dance is endlessly fascinating, both socially and theatrically, and deals with so many important issues in so many ways. Like 2Faced, dance is expanding, devouring new inspirations.

At times, it becomes daunting: how it is possible to talk about breakin’ and ballet at the same time, and find a genuine link?

At the Fringe, with so much strange emotion floating about, a thousand reviewers disagreeing about quality, sell-out shows that have an average of seven paying audience members, late nights and flowing alcohol, getting any sort of handle on the mayhem is difficult: using a short editorial to make broad comments is almost absurd. And yet dance needs new voices, a new criticism. It is not enough for either general theatre critics to apply their knowledge, or for ex-dancers to dominate. With a discipline that is both accessible and abstract, the differences between forms needs to be clear. Shows might claim to be butoh, but face-paint isn’t enough. Other pieces might be all ages – but this is often a euphemism for a children’s show.

In its own way, The Shimmy is struggling to define that new criticism. Ultimately, stars aren't enough. The critic - however much the performer might dislike it - is an important figure in the creative process. An informed member of the audience, they are still alongside the artists, offering support or censure and contributing to the steady or sudden evolution of dance.