The Performing Arts Studio Scotland hosts Springboard, a triple-bill of original dance pieces that gives young and emerging dancers, students and graduates the chance to perform. The first piece, Rule of 3, featured a tumultuous love triangle in a neatly minimal set, a lamp, a rug and a sofa, which was used to creative effect throughout. The choreography was sharp and precisely performed, and though the narrative itself took a while to get moving, when all three performers were in full flow it was a real pleasure to watch.
A Million Eyes Are On You was the second and largest performance, featuring eighteen dancers in full vintage 1950s dress, devised by the Scottish Youth Dance company on the theme of London being a stage in 2012 due to the advent of the games that must not be named. The piece built itself around a number of slick motifs that suggested a group struggling to out-perform each other and ultimately losing a sense of community. Towards the end all the performers dance in huddles of twos and threes in increasingly tortured and aggressive fashion, and the level of precision necessary to prevent it from looking a mess was thoroughly impressive.
The final piece, iDance, was just a wonderful bit of playing with form and style. Featuring a giant iPod as a prop, the piece messes around with a succession of 70s and 80s pop hits as the three dancers, led by one performer who could have carried the entire piece on the quality of her mimed responses alone, unceremoniously jump from one step-perfect routine to the next. There are references to the choreography of cinema classics like Footloose and Flashdance, and the entire piece has a warmth and charm that almost conceals the obvious hard work and attention that has gone into making the piece flow so naturally.
Springboard has one further performance on Tuesday 21st, and it’s a bit of a shame that, being in Granton, it’s so far a trek. This is an excellent bit of student physical theatre, and well worth a look if you’re in the area.
