Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in Arabic Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.Last seen in panto mode with their charming Christmas show Pirates!, Scottish Dance Theatre are back in London’s The Place theatre this week with the double bill of mainstream contemporary dance they performed at this year’s Edinburgh Festival.The Flock, by Roser López Espinosa, is inspired by the migration of birds. It was created in 2017 for the National Dance Production of Catalonia but was reworked for SDT last year using fresh input from its new cast. The eight dancers — more a litter than a flock, surely? — are dressed in a come-as-you-are collection of dark mixed colours and perform on a white floor against a white backcloth.The Flock begins in flight formation with a series of physical jerks to a metronomic soundtrack by Mark Drillich and Ilia Mayer. No one was actually doing burpees, but the star-jumping ensemble had a decidedly callisthenic vibe. After this exhausting warm-up, the cast crash to the floor and things take a more interesting turn as Ben McEwen wanders among the sleeping figures, repositioning them in new combinations like a game of Twister in which the players are all half-cut. Gradually the dancers regain autonomy and embark on a tireless series of acrobatic rolls, tumbles and capoeira kicks: part assault course, part children’s playground. Figures are tossed larkily skyward in birthday “bumps” or swung round in “helicopters” like a child in its father’s arms. Moves ricochet from one body to the next and dancers are forever being upended or thrown in a daisy chain of lifts, falls and catches. There is nothing horse-frighteningly original in López Espinosa’s writing but it is all gleefully executed by the eight-person team and although 40 minutes feels overstretched there is enough variety of scale, mood and tempo to hold the interest. In the closing moments, the group reverts to the bird motif, wheeling around the space in tight formation, arms blissfully outstretched, heading for the warm south.The second piece, Moving Cloud, is by Italian dancemaker Sofia Nappi whose CV lists Hofesh Shechter and Ohad Naharin’s “Gaga” movement system among her influences. She clearly shares Shechter’s willingness to yield to rhythm and there are odd glimpses of his trademark trudge, but her piece is saved from homage by the idiosyncratic zest of the dancers and a propulsive soundtrack by Donald Shaw, founder of folk outfit Capercaillie. During the Edinburgh run, the six-piece Glasgow band TRIP played the neo-Celtic score live but the music’s flavour endures even when canned. The whole company caper and shimmy maniacally to Isla Callister’s busy fiddle.Alison Brown dresses the nine dancers in a flamboyant collection of period haberdashery — gathered yokes, full sleeves, the odd jabot — and there is even a species of army surplus kilt for McEwen. This witty, characterful wardrobe and the company’s flair for dance drama hint at a narrative that, sadly, never quite crystallises. An intriguing cast of characters who have lost the plot but will put on a good show regardless.★★★☆☆To September 18, then touring scottishdancetheatre.com
