EdFringe 2024: Music, cabaret & dance
Edinburgh-made music, cabaret & dance at #EdFringe 2024
Beside all the theatre and musicals on offer, here are 21 shows with a theatrical bent in the music, cabaret, and dance sections of the EdFringe website.
This is a diverse catch-all listings, for which we make no apology, but urge people to explore it with an open mind as there are some real jewels in here.
Unearthed Dance Company will be staging All, Here & Now at PASS Theatre. Pic: UDC
There are 184 shows Made in Edinburgh at #EdFringe this year. In order to make things clearer, we have divided the listing up into seven parts. On this page you can find an alphabetical listing of productions by Edinburgh companies in the music, cabaret and dance sections of the programme.
Here are the links to the other six listings pages:
Theatre by Edinburgh’s Amateur companies.
Theatre by Edinburgh’s Grassroots companies.
Theatre by Edinburgh’s Youth and Student companies.
Theatre by Edinburgh’s Professional & Funded companies.
Theatre for children and young people.
Edinburgh-made Musical Theatre & Opera.
We are also proud to work with EPAD to produce and publish their annual listing of shows “created, performed or produced by Edinburgh’s theatre professionals” which is here.
This page has been updated to include links to reviews. Click on a show’s star rating to go to its review.
Music, cabaret and dance listings
Will Pickvance: Wonky
Will Pickvance
Summerhall (Venue 26)
1 – 26 Aug (not 12, 19): 17:55 (1 hr)
Æ Review: ★★★★☆ Inviting
We might swing by Satchmo’s, blow out of town on aeolian pipes, hammer blow, tapping toe, jam with the Lotos-Eaters. Then again, we might head somewhere entirely different. I can’t say exactly what notes I’m going to play. I’ll be your pilot, your tour guide. Piano solos, stories and the stuff of life. Further details.
Cabaret
Edinburgh Magic
Kevin Quantum
The Caledonian Edinburgh (Venue 206)
8 – 18 Aug: 18:00 (daily), 20:30 (not 17) (1 hr 15 mins)
Æ Review from a previous run: ★★★★☆ Rosy
An intimate and astonishing performance of magic in luxurious and enchanting surrounds from magician Kevin Quantum. Unlock hidden Edinburgh and enjoy magic that’s fooled the greatest minds associated with the city, from Harry Houdini to JK Rowling. Further details.
Kevin Quantum: Anti-Gravity
Kevin Quantum
Gilded Balloon Patter Hoose (Venue 24)
31 July – 26 Aug (not 20): 14:30 (1 hr)
Æ Review from a previous run: ★★★★☆ Thrilling:
Enter a space where the rules of gravity are bent and broken… Impossible illusions and levitations presented by the magician/scientist adventurer tutored by Penn & Teller. Having spent half of his adult life studying physics and half studying magic, Magic Circle member Kevin explores the exotic space where science and magic meet. Further details.
Saints and Sinners – The Cabaret
Luna Mageia Theatre Company
PASS Theatre (Venue 446)
19, 21, 23 Aug: 20:00 (1 hr)
Are you a saint or a sinner? Join us for a night of gritty, sweet and nostalgic fun. With songs from many different genres, allow the music and performances to awakening and salt your senses. Further details.
She Burns
Best Laid Schemes
Johnnie Walker Princes Street (Venue 215)
13/14, 16/17, 24/25: 16:00 (1 hr)
Æ Review: ★★★★★ Her noblest wark
Four fierce women, Scotland’s own local witches, weave a spellbinding tale of Robert Burns like never before, in an hour of empowerment and enlightenment filled with laughter, rebellion and the irresistible allure of the unknown. Further details.
The Secret Room at Lauriston Castle
Edinburgh International Magic Festival
Lauriston Castle (Venue 436)
13 – 15 / 21, 22 Aug: 13:30 & 15:30 (1 hr 15 mins)
On the outskirts of Edinburgh lies one of Edinburgh’s secret treasures – Lauriston Castle. Three expert magicians animate the castle’s intriguing past with stories, performances and illusions. A High Court judge-cum-surreptitious alchemist, a gambler who nearly lost everything, what other mysteries does this wonderful castle conceal? Featuring Drew McAdam, Lewis Barlow and Tim Licata. Further details.
Tim Licata: Close-Up & Personal
Plutôt La Vie
Assembly Rooms – Front room (Venue 20)
1 – 25 Aug (not 19): 21:05 (50 mins)
Æ Review: ★★★★☆ Childhood magic
A tale of magic, the mafia and delightful deception. Tongue firmly in cheek, Tim Licata blends close-up and stage magic to illustrate his personal journey into the conjuror’s craft. Replete with Halloween horrors, mafia associations, and a notorious assassin known as ‘The Knife’, Tim takes you on a magical tour of his personal family history. Further details.
Dance, Physical Theatre and Circus
2Flamenco
TuFlamenco
Argyle Cellar Bar (Venue 293)
2 – 25 Aug: 21:00 (55 mins)
Powerful, exquisite, beautiful and unforgettable Flamenco experience. Inma Montero and Danielo Olivera, well known Flamenco artists and Fringe regulars for more than a decade, bring a fresh, elegant and original vision to the main styles of Flamenco, creating a magical, intimate and special atmosphere. Further details.
All, Here & Now
Unearthed Dance Company
PASS Theatre (Venue 446)
14 – 17 Aug: 19:30 (45 mins)
Unearthed Dance Company bring a newly developed contemporary dance work to the stage. Join us as we navigate the fight for equality, acceptance and peace. With a pail of sand to guide us, the movement becomes a language, a dialect which is universal and a means of communicating that often goes deeper than words themselves. Further details.
Flamenco in Scotland
TuFlamenco
Edinburgh New Town Church (Venue 111)
11, 18 Aug only: 16:30 (55 mins)
Celebrating the last two years’ successful runs, this Andalusian showcase is back: full of bravery, heart, spirit and plenty of home-grown performers. This genuine flamenco experience brings together talented dancers from all over the world, inspired by the love for flamenco dance. Further details.
Futuristic Folktales
Charlotte Mclean and Collaborators
Assembly @ Dance Base (Venue 22)
13 – 18 Aug: 15:50 (1 hr)
A dance for hope scrutinises reproductive injustices by re-imagining the tale of the first womb, a folkloric creation narrative often silenced. The performers attempt to tell this momentous tale through storytelling, contemporary movement, Scottish Highland dance and acts of birth and un-birth, alongside an evocative soundscape of experimental bagpipes composed by Malin Lewis. Part of Made In Scotland Showcase. Further details.
In the Round
Yucca Dance
Greenside @ George Street (Venue 236)
19 – 24 Aug: 10:30 (30 mins)
Æ Review: ★★★★☆ Enthralling
A dance theatre production exploring the perpetual cycles that bind our existence. Blending dance, film and verbatim sound derived from live interviews. It weaves inspirations from Tibetan spiritual practice to the vibrancy of Japanese pop from Dip in the Pool. Further details.
Man & Board
Rob Heaslip
Assembly @ Dance Base (Venue 22)
13 – 25 Aug (not 15, 19, 22): 17:15 (1 hr)
An unlikely pairing of Rob’s moving body with a ritualised wooden board with which he sings, he dances, he wins and he loses, soon digs deeper to find a solo – arguably a duet – infused with autobiographical and queer undertones. An impassioned show about tradition, heritage, and masculinity. Further details.
One Couple Show
Pirita Tuisku and Thabo Mokolobate
ZOO Playground (Venue 186)
11 – 17 Aug: 17:45 (1 hr)
Æ Review: ★★★☆☆ Original
Not a one woman show. Not a one man show. The One Couple Show. A collage of works, how dance and poetry wed. The storyline is like from a romantic film. Two artists bring to you their personal story, with its ups and downs, about starting a new life in another country and living as artists. Will you be the next one joining this storyline? Further details.
READY
Matthew Hawkins
Assembly @ Dance Base (Venue 22)
2 – 4 Aug: 13:00 (1 hr)
A low-tech, site-sensitive solo piece by dance artist Matthew Hawkins which marks and celebrates over half a century of dance practice with immediacy and ample variation. Weaves around a series of Beethoven piano sonatas which are purposely selected for each performance. Further details.
Sacred Arts Festival Dance at Old Saint Paul’s Church: Dancing Ash Wednesday
Paul Burrows (dancer/priest) with George Ormerod (narrator)
Old Saint Paul’s Church (Venue 267)
13 Aug only: 13:15 (45 mins)
TS Eliot’s poem Ash Wednesday is widely regarded as a work of great spiritual depth. Its images are full of movement, making it highly suggestive for choreography and the art of dance. Paul Burrows (dancer/priest) has created a piece in which movement interacts with the speaker in Eliot’s poem; narrated by George Ormerod. Further details.
Springboard ’24
Performing Arts Studio Scotland – PASS
PASS Theatre (Venue 446)
21 – 24 Aug: 18:00 (1 hr)
A platform performance programme by Scottish-based artists with a mixed bill of new choreographic works from recent graduates or emerging artists working in dance and physical theatre. Further details.
Tam o’ Shanter
Edinburgh Ballet Theatre
Greenside @ George Street (Venue 236)
19 – 24 Aug: 18:30 (50 mins)
Our lively adaptation of the legendary Scots poem by Robert Burns begins in the local tavern. After a raucous ale-fuelled night, Tam stumbles across a terrifying scene of witches and ghostly creatures dancing bewitchingly in Auld Alloway Kirk. Tam yells out, and a frantic chase begins… This story ranges from comedic moments to eerie intensity. It is accompanied by atmospheric music, including Saint-Saëns and Mendelssohn. Edinburgh Ballet Theatre is a local amateur company that boasts a diversity of dancers. Our raison d’être is to promote inclusion in ballet by giving adult dancers a chance to perform. Further details.
These Mechanisms
Christine Thynne and Robbie Synge
Assembly @ Dance Base (Venue 22)
2 – 4 Aug: 19:45 (1 hr)
In her eightieth year, Christine wondered if she might create her first dance performance. With intrepid and joyous spirit, These Mechanisms is just that. A performance of persistence, journeying through weird and wonderful situations that bring body, materials and sound together in complex but fundamental ways. Further details.
Timeless
PRIME and LYDC
Assembly @ Dance Base (Venue 22)
2 – 11 Aug (not 5): 15:50 (1 hr)
A joyful celebration of the dance of life, regardless of where you are on that road. Featuring Dance Base’s in-house companies Lothian Youth Dance Company and PRIME. Four new works by choreographers Katie Armstrong, Tony Mills, Lewis Normand and Alan Greig. Further details.
Within Reach
Alan Greig
Assembly @ Dance Base (Venue 22)
9 – 11 Aug: 13:20 (40 mins)
Within Reach by Alan Greig is a site-responsive solo dance performance that looks at the ageing body and plays with gender, identity and LGBTQ+ icons – including Quentin Crisp, Joan Crawford, Bette Davis and Tennessee Williams. Further details.
ENDS
