Review by Vassia Bouchagiar – Walker
There is a sense of intrigued expectation as we wait for the performance of Futuristic Folktales to start. To everyone’s surprise director Charlotte Mclean, along with her two performers Orrow Bell and Seke Chimutengwende, take to the stage in full bright white light in order to introduce themselves and the performance to the audience. Not a usual start to a show, which intrigues the mind even more.
As the creator of the performance steps away, the dancers take their starting places, and the lights dim to a mystical purple – fifty-seven thought-provoking and surreal minutes follow.
Futuristic Folktales is a multi-dimensional piece that uses structured dance improvisation, spoken word, music, sound and light to provide a platform for Mclean’s narrative of the tale of the first womb. A tale Mclean states that ‘no one talks about but we are all connected to, as we all came from one’. Inspired by personal experiences and the current state of the world socially and politically, Mclean attempts to bring into light questions about the preservation of tradition and cultural identity, as well as issues of body politics and reproductive injustices.
Mclean’s two performers are exceptional, with a clear background in highly technical dance training but also great comfort and confidence in improvising on the spot.
The work also features an utterly otherworldly and magnificent experimental soundtrack by composer Malin Lewis based on Scottish pipes, fiddle and electronic soundscapes; Emma Jones’ dystopian and imposing low lighting filled with reds, blues and greens; and the Scottish traditional Highland Fling as a reference to Mclean’s own cultural roots. With the stage set on the same level as the front row seats, a feeling of intimacy is created between the performers and the audience. This intimate experience is enhanced by Alison Brown’s casual costumes that give the performers an ‘everyday feel’ and by cleverly placed small doses of humour throughout the piece. The performers are free to express their emotions on stage through sounds such as groaning, mumbling, singing and even screaming.
As the performers finish in an embryonic embrace, under a solitary dim spotlight, the audience is left with more questions than answers. Questions about one’s identity, self (re)discovery and the cycle of life and death.
*
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.
Futuristic Folktales was performed at Dance Base, Edinburgh 8-13 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 Charlotte Mclean and Amy Sinead
