@ Pleasance Courtyard, Edinburgh, until Mon 31 Aug 2015 @ 21:30
The creators of the hit international show Ballet Revolucion, present the world premiere of their new production Balletronic: a fusion of dance and electronics choreographed by Aaron Cash and Roclan Gonzalez Chavez, bringing together both neo-classical and contemporary dance. They have filled a stage with talented dancers, alongside a percussionist, DJ and classical musicians, which generates high expectations of the performance.
The dancers are fiery, ambitious and passionate and both Yeleny Aguirre Camacho and Leidy Marlen Crespo Castillo are names to watch out for. However, the repetitive choreography doesn’t enable them to demonstrate their talent fully and given that they often walk aimlessly across stage, the lack of narrative is apparent. Its title suggests the show is about how electronics influence us in music and in everyday life, but this doesn’t come across in the performance.
It may sound off-putting pairing music from artists like Avicii and David Guetta with ballet, but alongside work by pioneer Giorgio Moroder it succeeds. The live music is a powerful combination of rhythm and strings that surrounds the dancers, and steals their stage. The loudest applause is for solo violinist Jelien Baso Miranda and the final encore is the highlight, where the dancers are free to have fun.
This is not revolutionary dance, and there is room for innovation and experimentation. It is an eccentric performance that doesn’t realise its full potential, and requires a little polishing.