Seen at Edinburgh Festival Fringe on the 21st of August 2019
4 stars – Skilled and ironic
Dance that is power, in every sense. In From the Top, this is very clear: power is in the precise movements of the dancers, power is what is contended between the two of them, power is what the choreographer, ultimately, has a hold on.
Kenny Leung and Ronny Wong do their best to dance according to the directions of their choreographer. He expresses himself in terms that are not always precise and he doesn’t seem to care for the physical possibility of realising his ideas.
This kind of ʻbehind-the-scenesʼ work becomes incredibly funny thanks to the surtitles, which speak for the two dancers behind their fake, obliging smiles. The dancers rehearse their moves to perfection, and their strong bodies are always mutually caught, lifted or supported. The dynamics of power are not only told through the relation with the choreographer, but the dancers represent it directly on stage, also through their different attitudes to the voice that comes from the top.
The company Victor Fung Dance, based in London and Hong Kong, have already presented this performance in this and in a longer version. Even if it might not be completely accomplished, the experimentalism of this meta-dance show makes it something unique and incredibly interesting.
6th – 25th August, 6.30 pm
Running time: 30 minutes
Dance Base (Venue 22), 14-16 Grassmarket, Edinburgh EH1 2JU
Tickets and Info: https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/from-the-top
Company website: https://www.victorfungdance.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/VictorFungDance
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/VictorFungDance/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/VictorFungDance
Butterwort 
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