Review by Vassia Bouchagiar-Walker

Is it possible for humans to break out of the endless repetitive cycles that human nature is comprised of? Or should we? And if yes, which ones do we choose to break out of and how?

These are some of the questions two young and talented dancers/choreographers pose to the audience through this dance theatre performance. Yucca Dance consists of Yuxi Jiang from China and Luca Vaccari from the UK. 

In the Round transports the viewer to another plane of existence. Performed in a tiny venue, where the stage is at the same level with the audience and the dancers are never more than three feet away from the front row, the experience becomes totally immersive. Combining Chinese and Western contemporary dance styles, an original score from Japanese art-pop duo dip in the pool, screen dance, and multilingual recorded spoken word, the two dance artists explore the universal symbolism of circles and their association with human tradition, mythology, history and everyday life. 

Flowing dance sequences enriched with circular body movements that resemble the ebb and flow of the sea capture the viewer’s imagination. At the same time, everyday human behaviors are reflected in trivial movements and hand and arm gestures such as checking one’s watch, looking out into the distance, running, shushing, impatiently tapping one’s fingers on the table. This expertly created and performed choreography, physicalizes questions about human nature, patterns of human behavior, and human mortality. 

A three-minute screen dance is projected on the stage backdrop halfway through the piece. The intricate patterns the two dancers create with their bodies swirling around each other and in space, set on a circle garden with a labyrinth carved on the ground, intrigues the eyes and further brings the repetitiveness of our lives to the forefront of the mind. The original soundtrack creates a transcendent mood throughout the piece while the multilingual audio gives a global perspective to the theme.

True to its concept the piece comes full circle in the end. All the elements of In the Round combine to create a unique atmosphere that offers the audience an almost spiritual experience.

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This review is published by Traditional Dance Forum of Scotland as part of our Traditional Dance Criticism Course, led by dance writer and editor Róisín O’Brien and supported by dance scholar and editor Dr Wendy Timmons.

Vassia Bouchagiar-Walker is one of the six applicants, alongside Yuxi Jiang, Catherine Coutts, Alena Shmakova, Inesa Vėlavičiūtė and Yanmei Bowie, who were selected to participate in this pilot edition of the course in 2024.

In the Round was performed at Greenside, Edinburgh 19-25 August 2024 as part of International Festival Fringe. It was one of the shows with trad dance roots across the Edinburgh’s summer festivals we hand-picked to review. Images courtesy of Yucca Dance and Siyao.

Please find further details about our #traddance campaign at Edinburgh summer festivals here