CIRCA

20/8/09, Assembly on the Mound (Edinburgh Fringe)

This year's dose of circus. They were at the Riverside earlier and received rave reviews: three men topless in trousers, three women in leotards and corset-like tops. There were circus stunts: one of the girls spun five (possibly six) hoops simultaneously; there were stands and leaps and rolls; several times the men held a woman by her shins as she leant far over; two of the women linked arms back to back and somersaulted across the stage. But it occupied territory at the point where circus, dance and mime meet. There were lots of sly looks and little jokes about flirting and body language and games of dominance and oneupmanship. One of the women walked on a man in stilettoes. The music was cleverly selected (French song seemed to feature largely) but, alas, much of the time the musical accompaniment was repetitive and the lighting subdued and I found myself drifting, unable to do them justice.