Edinburgh Fringe 2026
Phantom 魅影
Ling Huang , HULK Dance Theatre
Venue: Edinburgh Festival Carnival
Festival: Edinburgh Fringe
Low Down
Ling Huang and HULK Dance Theater presented Phantom at the Edinburgh Festival Carnival 2026. Drawing on the movement and visual traditions of ancient CHU culture in China, the piece uses long sleeves and folding fans in the choreography.
Review
The opening is slow and quiet. The dancers move their long sleeves in wide arcs around the body, with curved upper bodies and small steps. The sleeves make the movement appear larger, sometimes continuing after the dancers themselves have come to a stop. The group is well coordinated, the dancing feel very formal.
The pace gradually changes with the music. The sleeve movements become quicker, and later the dancers introduce folding fans. This gives the choreography a sharper quality. After the softer movement of the opening, the fans bring a clear change of rhythm and texture.
One of the strengths of Huang’s choreography is her use of the group. The dancers move between circles, diagonal lines, triangles and smaller groupings. These formations keep changing, but the transitions are rarely abrupt. At times one shape seems to disappear as another is already forming.
The dancers carry the technical demands of the piece well. Their upper-body movement stays fluid and the footwork is precise. They also keep their facial expressions relatively restrained. Much of the expression comes through posture, focus and the way the movement is timed.
The middle section is much more peaceful. The mood stays quite similar for some time, and I would have liked to see a greater change in dynamics here. It might have given the piece a stronger sense of progression. The group remains consistent, particularly in the larger ensemble sections.
Phantom also felt quite different from many of the performances around it at the Edinburgh Festival Carnival. The festival setting is lively and energetic, while this piece takes more time to carry about. Its impact comes from the detail of the movement and the changing shapes of the group, is not from speed or spectacle but from the culture understanding.
The group work is the strongest part of Phantom. Huang makes good use of the dancers as a group, and the long sleeves and fans are integrated naturally into the choreography. There are places where I wanted the work to shift more dramatically, particularly in the middle part, but its control and clarity make it an engaging presentation of Chinese classical dance.
