Six Feet, Three Shoes is an intriguing concept. Bringing together three seemingly polar opposite dance styles and combining them in a cross-cultural blend shows the power of sharing and friendship is a winning premise.
And there are real positives. Leticia Cabezudo is electrifying as a Spanish flamenco force, her rhythm and body contortions filled with passion and power and symbolising a real love for her work. She is funny too, taking to the microphone periodically to narrate some of the difficulties she had acclimatising to her new ‘Scottish’ world.
The primary narrator of the show, however, is artistic director and choreographer of Slanjayvah Danza, Jen Wren. She tells an emotive tale of her blending of cultures and particularly of her Scottish roots although it could perhaps do with some more polish in delivery. She has a wonderful singing voice and her training in contemporary dance is clear; all three women (Charlotte Matthiessen making up the trio) dance with synchronicity and spirit.
However, there are flaws. The Scottish element of the dance fusion is made-up of ceilidh, step and highland dancing which is not primarily a problem although they each have their own subtle differences. In a dance production, for example, it might be pertinent to actually set the swords correctly before dancing over them and when the ‘sword dance’ begins it wouldn’t have taken three accomplished dancers a great deal of work to perfect a pas-de-basque. This may also have prevented the kicking of the swords.
But the power of friendship is clear and there are moments which spark real joy. Humour, singing, music (played live on stage by Caterina McEvoy and Amy Geddes), dance and poignancy all set the foundation for this to be a really great piece of dance theatre. Some simple fixes would take it there.