Bout review – a ringside seat for the delicate battles of brotherhood
09 August 2019 12:47
Summerhall, EdinburghA trio of siblings make their childhood sparring literal in a mesmerising dance show with heavyweight potentialEdinburgh’s Summerhall has a rowdy late-night festival hit with Square Go, which imagines a school fight with all the excess of professional wrestling. The mood is more subdued for its breakfast show Bout, an exploration of brotherhood through the motif of boxing. It’s performed – literally toe-to-toe at times – by three barefoot siblings from Taiwan’s Chang Dance Theatre and has the same grace and depth as last year’s Bon 4 Bon, in which they similarly drew upon their memories of childhood.Bout opens with one of the brothers pacing the stage alone. Another soon follows him. A third falls into step. When one of them hits the floor, he lies motionless while the others share a routine whose intermittent freeze-frames are suggestive of sports photography, all the intent and reaction captured in stillness. Has the prone brother been KO-ed? Or is he merely dreaming in the corner of a shared bedroom?Bout is at Summerhall, Edinburgh, until 25 August.Read all our Edinburgh festival reviews. Continue readingread full article
