Edinburgh Fringe 2021
Grin
Mele Broomes and collaborators featuring Divine Tasinda and Kemono L.Riot
Genre: Circus, Dance, Dance and Movement Theatre, Performance Art
Venue: Summerhall Online
Festival: Edinburgh Fringe
Low Down
We begin with what I mistakenly thought looked like a skyline. There is movement from within it which slowly begins to emerge. It is a body covered in the shininess I have taken for a place in the distance. From that beginning it dances its way over a stage bedecked in shiny material reflecting back at us. One figure soon becomes two and we progress beyond a beginning into neon and duo pieces that are as entrancing and beautiful as it can be.
Review
I loved this piece after the beginning though I found the start a little slow and perhaps it is the filming of it which made my initial guesswork so wrong. It had both an ethereal quality and grace in the solo work as well as the duo dance piece that shone as much as the costume from the beginning.
I think, for me, it really worked best when one became two. The interplay between both dancers was something I truly enjoyed as the soundscape and sexualized challenges were evidenced and developed in layers. There was a clear synergy with the sound score making such an impact. Whilst I may have been ignorant of the subtleties in the cultural references of African and Caribbean hyper sexuality, they truly came across best there. This may sit within the hetero norm it did have plenty to say in performance which transcends such limitations. I got the message in a far clearer method at those points.
it was well filmed; the soundscape was tremendous. I loved the changes of tempo and the response in terms of the choreography was well nuanced. It never made me feel solely sympathetic but also enriched. The community building suggestions of the accompanying publicity and the fact it is part of the Made in Scotland showcase allows me to feel very proud to be a Scot and that the future of such an enterprise is clearly in such creative hands. art as a catalyst is a beautiful thing and this was certainly a beautiful thing.
