Mary Brennan

Dance critic

Latest articles from Mary Brennan

PANTO REVIEW It’s not Peter Pan as we know it but it’s big and brash and it’s eager to win us over

We now have a Dame in the buoyant shape of May McSmee (yer man Allan Stewart) formerly Hook’s cook. That piratical Hook was eaten by a crocodile, wasn’t he? But this is panto remember - and Grant Stott, like Stewart, is a long-established mainstay of Edinburgh’s seasonal entertainment, so the croc found him hard to swallow and now Hook’s back to parry patter and punchlines with May McSmee.

Matthew Bourne's show is shocking - but sensational

The young lives of Shakespeare’s star-crossed lovers were tragically blighted by the warring rivalries of their powerful families. Fast forward to a time akin to our own, with Matthew Bourne’s radical re-working of that narrative now isolating troubled teenagers in the Verona Institute where strict regimentation - and controlling medication - erode any hint of individuality or rebellious behaviour. Conformity seems the goal here, regardless of any personal or emotional needs.

'Broodingly cataclysmic' Review: Twice-Born, Scottish Ballet, four stars

A desire to challenge preconceptions about dance, and what we expect from it, underpins this bold new double bill from Scottish Ballet. Choreographers and dancers alike have opted to sidestep familiar styles and explore other directions in movement and creativity. There are surprises on-stage!

'Truly uplifting on every level': The Rite of Spring/Common Ground[s]. Review

In 1978, Pina Bausch’s blisteringly radical Rite of Spring had its UK debut at the Edinburgh Festival. Then, the bare feet that pounded and scuffed the earth-covered stage belonged to her own Wupperthal-based company. Now that choreography returns – but the feet belong to over 30 dancers from 14 African nations, gathered together specifically for this visionary project directed by senior members of Bausch’s own company.

True love doesn’t run smooth here: Festival Dance Chapter 3. Review

Download full-resolution images Available until 13 Sep 2023 Festival Dance Chapter 3: the brutal journey of the heart Festival Theatre, Edinburgh Mary Brennan four stars The course of true love doesn’t run smooth here: it jitters, judders, prances and bends every which way but there’s no sign that the ‘brutal journey’ has any happy ending. That would, of course, be a cliché - and L-E-V’s artistic directors/choreographers Sharon Eyal and Gai Behar go all out to body-swerve anything that’s pat or obvious.