HIMHERANDIT are part of the Danish showcase on this year’s Fringe, although none of the dancers (Aris Papadopoulos, Paola Drera, and Theo Mario-Wuillemin) or their creative director, Andreas Constantinou, are actually Danish – but the company is based in Aarhus. What they are though are one of the most predictably great dance groups, that have thrilled the Fringe for several years including last year’s Champions and the brilliant Mass Effect.

This is their most powerful show yet. And that takes some doing. It is a thought provoking, emotionally draining, joyously human drama.

It’s storytelling in its purest form, bringing to the stage the lives of  Aris, Paola and Theo from birth till now.

The life of a dancer is a challenging one. Body dysmorphia is rife. Paola talks of this. Male dancer queerness may be  a common perception but in fact a study by Archives of Sexual Behavior found that not much more than half of male professional dancers are gay. So although this queer company has unquestionably ‘found its people’ that’s not always the case.  And worst of all, performers in any medium are riddled with self-doubt.

Validation is a massive part of a dancer’s life and this show fundamentally explores this deep emotional need state by demonstrating, through 10 chapters, the building blocks of creating work that will be deemed ‘good’ by its audience.  Or at least good enough.

The objectives of the work, its purpose, preparation, rehearsal, familial feedback, pre show warm up routines: all inspire short dance sequences. Lip synch is used throughout to comic effect, photos of our three dancers growing up, stories of their birth; interventions from Andreas.

Another core theme of the show is belonging, and it’s abundantly clear that this small group of people have each others backs, may in fact love one another and are a real family, maybe even more than the families they group up with.

Both before the show and in its wonderful, tear-jerking finale the troupe come into the audience, hold our hands, engage with us. It creates an irresistible bond and a will for the show to be good enough. Maybe for one hour we are family too.  It certainly feels that way by the end.

This is not conventional dance – if you want ballet go to the Bolshoi – but it has plenty of compelling, almost chaotic, movement.  What it is, is performance of a superior quality. The good news is that there were many empty seats, so tickets can be had.

Of course, the question has to be asked.  On reflection, is the show good enough?

Yes, it’s good enough.

Good Enough is at Main Hall at Summerhall until Sun 30 Aug 2026