Thirty Swans A- Dancing

Photo: Hugo Glendenning When Matthew Bourne first premiered his ground-breaking Swan Lake, there were walkouts and little girls crying. Where were the girls in tutus? Why was there a gay storyline? Where were Odile and Odette? Pearls were clutched. It’s thirty years later, and happily Bourne’s iconoclastic and singular vision has not only endured, butContinue reading “Thirty Swans A- Dancing”

Album Review: Model/Actriz- Pirouette

This simply has to be one of the best albums of the year. A mash up of so many exciting elements: the dancefloor burn of mid-noughties American artists like LCD Soundsystem; wild experimentation of no wave and sheer filth of glam at its sleaziest. It’s night time music for seduction or moving under neon lights.Continue reading “Album Review: Model/Actriz- Pirouette”

From The Skinny Archive… Matthew Bourne ‘s Swan Lake In 3D

★★★★★ Review by Missy Lorelei | 27 Jun 2012       This ravishing production from Sadler’s Wells in London is at once contemporary and utterly timeless. Bourne’s re-telling of the classic ballet has more than a slight Freudian overtone to the narrative; the adult Prince (touchingly portrayed by Dominic North) has mother issues; is seduced by aContinue reading “From The Skinny Archive… Matthew Bourne ‘s Swan Lake In 3D”

The Arts Are Not A Luxury

I grew up in a small working- class rural town in Perthshire, Scotland. Nothing much happened there; we didn’t have much money and TV was our only dose of culture. In my house, books were shoved into cupboards, hidden away like skeletons, and theatre, with the exception of am- dram panto, wasn’t “for the likesContinue reading “The Arts Are Not A Luxury”

From the Exeunt Archive: Slap And Tickle

REVIEWS • DANCE • REVIEWSPublished 25 April 2017 Review: Slap and Tickle at Tramway, Glasgow APRIL 21 – APRIL 22 A particularly British nightmare: Lorna Irvine is at Dance International Glasgow to review Liz Aggiss’ boundary-breaking, genre-melding solo show. LORNA IRVINE Slap and Tickle, Tramway, Glasgow. Once upon a time, there was a little girl called Liz Aggiss. NowContinue reading “From the Exeunt Archive: Slap And Tickle”

One From Exeunt Archive: Jasmin Vardimon Pinocchio

REVIEWS • DANCE • REVIEWSPublished 12 May 2017 Review: Pinocchio at the Festival Theatre, Edinburgh MAY 2 A highly original, thoroughly rollicking ninety minutes: Lorna Irvine enjoys Jasmin Vardimon’s multi-faceted dance adaptation of this classic children’s story. LORNA IRVINE Pinocchio, Jasmin Vardimon Company. Photo: Tristram Kenton. Assassins? Beyonce? A brutal subtext about exploitation? It must be choreographer Jasmin Vardimon’sContinue reading “One From Exeunt Archive: Jasmin Vardimon Pinocchio”

The Future’s Here Today: Doom Scroller

Hiding in velveteen corners in smoke filled rooms you may find the enigmatic Doom Scroller. The Edinburgh based trio- comprised of singer and award- winning video artist Alex Auldsmith along with Scott Bathgate and Alex Palmer – make majestic, atmospheric electronic music designed to be heard undercover of darkness. It’s dark, seductive and intoxicating. The videoContinue reading “The Future’s Here Today: Doom Scroller”

Overlooked Classics: Hail The New Puritan (1987)

“Michael! Michael! “ I’m trying not to get too nostalgic here, as any nostalgia suggests there’s nothing worth dipping into in contemporary culture, but Charles Atlas’ fictionalised account of Michael Clark was like a firework going off in my soul. Something just sparked within me. Epiphany is an understatement. This was something I wanted inContinue reading “Overlooked Classics: Hail The New Puritan (1987)”