Dance has had a good Fringe and as the festival nears its end this is a contender for best of the bunch, but only if you approach it with an open mind.  In her show notes, that are handed out on the stairs of Summerhall’s Main Stage, Léa Tirabasso asks you to empty our mind and approach with no prejudice, no seeking of structure or narrative, because there is none.

A white floor and black draped walls greet the audience, a sterile canvas on which six dancers present an hour of colourful polished choreography, developed in workshop to the music of Brahms. At the last minute the score was apparently ditched and a new electronic mash up, by Johanna Bramli and Ed Chivers put in its place.  At times it leans into the more laconic end of Jon Hopkins’ techno repertoire, with a couple of classical classics thrown in for good measure.

It’s the Scottish premiere of Léa Tirabasso’s ‘In the Bushes’ brought to us as a Luxemburg Selection. Tirabasso is true to her word as the entire show feels kind of plot-driven but is actually a series of wonderful vignettes that blur the distinction between the human and animal kingdom. The cast appear as chickens and feral dogs and are free in their sexual exploration, because that’s what happens in the bushes, right?

It’s frankly batshit crazy at times with its mix of spoken word, outstanding dance and crazy costumes that range from a Sergeant Pepper extra to a toreador who might just have been inspired by Janelle Monae’s glorious ‘Pink video’.

Every emotion is portrayed by the exceptional cast of Catarina Barbosa, Georges Maikel Pires Monteiro, Karl Fagerlund Brekke, Laura Lorenzi, Mayowa Ogunnaike and Stefania Pinato, but the most striking is saved for the finale when, following an absurd funeral, to the sounds of Mozart’s sumptuous ‘Lacrimosa’, (lovingly dubbed ‘Creamy Samosa’ by the troupe) one of the dancers is transported overhead, wearing only white pants, Christlike, into the arms of another, mimicking the Pietà.

It’s a beautiful and tender moment. But seconds later lachrymony is to the fore again as the dancers squirt water bottles into their eyes to create tears of sorrow.

It’s this juxtaposition of real and surreal, art and reality, that makes ‘In the Bushes’ such a compelling proposition.  If absurdity isn’t your bag it’s best avoided. But, if as Tirabasso intended, you can throw your expectations out the window and simply enjoy this as it was intended you’re in for a huge treat.

‘In the Bushes‘ is at Summerhall – Main Hall until Mon 25 Aug 2025 at 16:25