What you might not have expected from this outdoor promenade show, which purports to be about power structures, dictatorship and democracy, is some of the most joyful dancing you’ll see this Edinburgh festival – indeed, you might even be doing some of it yourself.
Lebanese choreographer Omar Rajeh (now based in Lyon) leads a company of diverse movers, the kind of dancers that seem to move on instinct, their steps go from gnarly to sharp to shimmying; bursting with life and confidence. A pulsing jerk of Rajeh’s shoulder catches and spreads until the whole group is bouncing as one and surging through the space, eyes shining, entranced by the music, like a full moon ritual or a solstice party under the light cloud of an Edinburgh sky.
It is infectious, and inevitably the invitation comes to join them: in a circle dance, instructions shouted over the music, or in a mass bop, arms thrust into the air, only a moderate amount of awkwardness and a few inhibitions thrown off.
But Dance People is more than a groovy dancefloor. What it really seems to be is a lot of ideas that have been thrown up between Rajeh, the dancers and dramaturg Peggy Olislaegers, that haven’t been shaped into an effective whole. These roam vaguely (and sometimes specifically) around ideas of community and connection, citizenship, workers’ oppression, borders and activism.
Cumbersome pieces of stage set are moved around the space, forcing us out of the way – part of the power dynamic of the space, you could say. There’s the drawing of boundaries that are then transgressed; excerpts from historical letters describing workers lives, and audience members describing their day; voiceover, projection, participation and some live oud music.
The real theme is the feeling of helplessness of the average person in the face of the world’s problems, and what this show is trying to do is turn us from passive to active spectators, by physically making us the protagonists, inviting us into the performer’s sacred space, showing us the solidarity and the value in the people around us. But it is too overloaded and too wandering to be truly effective. As the night turns dark, the mood shifts from happy community into something more angry and alienating, and the galvanising force ebbs away.
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At Old College Quad, Edinburgh, until 10 August. Edinburgh international festival runs until 24 August
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