August 6th, 2014 – Critic’s Choice in The Times of London for What To See Today at Edinburgh!!
Éowyn Emerald and Dancers at Greenside at Royal Terrace, Edinburgh
Colleagues have waxed enthusiastic about The Warriors: A Love Story (Zoo Southside until August 24), a multimedia slice of romantic 20th-century history littered with striking imagery and staged with ambitious scope by Arcos Dance of Austin, Texas. But, fascinating as the source material is, to me this show is ultimately overproduced. Others have sung the praises of Homme/Animal (Greenside at Nicolson Square until August 23) by Vendetta Mathea, an American now living in France. It is, on the one hand, a memorable, late-night hour of primal movement, but also at times it seems irritatingly self-indulgent and obscure.
One of my hot tips in this year’s Fringe dance programme is Éowyn Emerald Barrett, whose young, Portland, Oregon-based company is making its second consecutive visit to Edinburgh. Barrett has crafted a pretty seamless, satisfyingly varied suite of seven short dances for herself, Jonathan Krebs, Josh Murry and Holly Shaw. What I like about her work is both its attention to kinetic detail, and how a range of emotions are never obviously conveyed. The hour-long performance also strikes a fine balance between humour and sobriety.
The quality of the dancing shines through too, whether in a duet for Barrett and Murry centred on the exchange of a jacket and hat, or a trio in which Krebs joins them for what could be construed as an anti-war statement. It is precisely this level of ambiguity that is most telling about Barrett’s dance-making. Shaw also has her moment in the spotlight via a slow, seductive jazz-influenced solo. All four dancers soar in a finale that confirms Barrett as a talent to watch.”