Deiseil: Dancing in Time ★★★★★
theSpace (Venue 45) until 16 August
Who knew Scotland has a lost tradition of percussive dance, once an important part of Gaelic culture? Definitely not me. However, while stepdance died out in Scotland, it continued among Scots emigrés in Cape Breton, who taught it to dancer Alison Carlyle. Now, in partnership with fiddler Amy Geddes and director Gerry Mulgrew, she presents its story.
Stepdance disappeared as Gaelic culture was eroded. As Highland dancing became formalised and competitive, stepdance – more free-form and enjoyed socially by both men and women – fell into disrepute. These might sound like reasons for lament, but the show is determinedly joyful. The tradition nearly died, but now it’s alive again. So let’s dance.
And dance they do: Carlyle takes the more complex moves, but Geddes bravely joins in. A specially-made wooden dancefloor magnifies the rhythms of tapping and hopping. The clues were there all along in the fiddle tunes and certain kinds of Gaelic songs. Once you see and hear the two together, you wonder how you could have missed it before: they were written to dance to.
The show is beautifully put together, weaving fragments of the story with snippets of recorded voice and plenty of dance. In a gorgeous visual moment, Geddes hangs out a washing – actually printed fabric showing a Scottish landscape – and Carlyle dances around and through it. When they do reflect on the Clearances – for this is part of the story too – they do with such poise it is serious but never heavy. With good humour and consummate skill, they demonstrate some starting steps and explore the differences between types of dance: ceilidh, country, highland, even a minuet, without breaking their stride. They get us clapping out rhythms until we start to feel them in our bodies.
Deiseil is more about showing than telling, and it feels like the warm, playful collaboration of Carlyle and Geddes embodies the spirit of stepdance. This is the most joyful show I’ve seen so far this Fringe. It tells an important story with the lightest of touches and doesn’t put a foot wrong.
Susan Mansfield, THE SCOTSMAN