Dance Company Grupo Corpo at Edinburgh Playhouse

Somehow with the Olympics taking place concurrently with the Edinburgh Festivals, I feel a sporting metaphor may not be out of place for the simple reason that the sheer athleticism of Grupo Corpo is astonishing.

And I can also say that this performance was certainly one of two halves of very different experiences. The two pieces were both UK premieres.

The first, Gil Refazendo, is a tribute to Brazilian music artist Gilberto Gil and refazendo means remaking. The music is an uplifting combination of traditional Brazillian genres as well as more modern electronic sounds. The dancers go through some extraordinary motions ranging from the subtly graceful to almost frenetic gyration. The intensity of the choreography was mesmerising as they moved in unison, broke apart, and rejoined through a plethora of permutations. Fantastic!

The second piece, Gira, meaning spin has a distinctly more primitive, basic, back to the roots of all musical thrust. There seemed to be an inspiring thought that all are equal as demonstrated by identical costumes for both the male & female dancers who were all topless, though the women had body stockings on their torsos. As a result, there was an aura of gratuitous prurience in this piece. Whilst the dancing was again spectacular, I don’t believe the idea of trying to reach the liminal was successful.

I’d happily see Gil Refazendo again and again but would avoid Gira. So, a gold medal for the first, but disqualification for the second.

https://www.eif.co.uk/events/grupo-corpo