Dance Base Festival
Prepare to be moved by movement this summer at Dance Base Festival 2025 in partnership with Assembly Festival.
About Dance Base Festival
Featuring 29 shows from 12 countries, this multi-genre programme explores connection in its many forms; to home, across cultures, self-identity, nationality, history and technology.
Witness late-night curiosities and concerts. Calls to action and invitations to reflect. Find that age is only a number and that anybody can dance. Discover stories about the land under our feet and the future that lies ahead of us. Feel diasporic dancing dialogues. Sense the shape of our societies. Be challenged. Be entertained. Be moved by movement.
Full programme breakdown
Wakati by Shelmith Øseth | 31 Jul – 3 Aug | 14:40 (1 hour)
Wakati is a Swahili word for time. The performance Wakati explores how past, present and future affect the development of a culture and the life of a human. In Wakati, the performer explores her own cultural history and heritage through time. By using her own experience of immigrating to Norway from Kenya, Shelmith examines the expectations, ideas and cultural assumptions that come with being an immigrant and multicultural in Norway. The work sheds light on how identity changes and develops within the same culture and between different cultures. As well as how time, identity and culture are intertwined phenomenons.
NORMAL by 71BODIES | 31 Jul – 3 Aug | 19:00 (1 hours)
NORMAL is an interdisciplinary art project merging dance, storytelling perspectives and film. The production at its core, embodies the physical expressions related to affection, care, intimacy, togetherness and its collective power within bodies that exist and live outside of the norm. NORMAL is about people, bodies and stories that do not belong to mainstream society. It is also about the interactions and intersections that exist between disabilities, sexuality and gender identity
Candlelight: Classic Rock in the Round by Blue Violin | 31 Jul – 24 Aug | 21:15 (1 hour)
Step into a realm where candlelight dances with defiance. Among 1,000 flames, Blue Violin shatters musical boundaries, breathing fierce new life into rock's greatest anthems. Watch as contemporary dancers emerge from shadows and smoke, their movements painting emotional landscapes through AC/DC's Thunderstruck and Lynyrd Skynyrd's Free Bird.
Dansa Rickshaw | Dance Ihayami | 31 Jul – 10 Aug | 14:30 (50 mins)
Dansa Rickshaw is more than performance, it's a journey of connection, resilience and shared humanity. This vibrant performance weaves Bharatanatyam's intricate footwork and expressive storytelling with the soul-stirring melodies of bagpipes and the lively pulse of traditional reels. Choreographer Priya Shrikumar's artistry reflects her dual heritage creating a dialogue between cultures. The production also honours pieces from Martyn Bennett's groundbreaking music – a powerful blend of Scottish tradition and modern energy – symbolising unity through rhythm.
Voyeur / Samba and Love by São José dos Campos Dance Company | 31 Jul - 24 Aug | 13:00 (1 hour)
In this double bill, 'Voyeur' exposes intimacy under silent surveillance, while 'Samba & Love' erupts with rhythm, confronting the burnout of modern life. Two physical, emotional works where resistance and tenderness collide.
Taiwan Season: Trace of Belief | Chun Dance | 31 Jul – 24 Aug | 20:30 (45 mins)
Choreographer Hsieh Yi-Chun makes an impressive international debut with a brand-new ensemble dance about collective ritual and individual will. Inspired by temple processions and childhood memories, her mesmerizing sextet uses a flow of dynamic movement to pose a key question: 'What anchors our faith in an ever-changing world?' Merging past and present, sacred and secular, tradition and modernity, this sensitive and searching production surges with a heightened sense of spirituality. At the same time, it is deeply rooted in communal humanity. The result is cross-cultural dance of great power and universal resonance.
PRIME at 10 | PRIME | 1 – 3 Aug | 13:15 (60 mins)
Celebrating their 10th anniversary year in 2025, Dance Base's in-house company for over 60s, PRIME, showcase a new commission ‘Ten’ by Robbie Synge alongside a revival of sections of Steinvör Palsson's 'Carry on Dancing'.
Soil by AVIAJA Dance | 1-17 Aug | 15:50 (1 hour)
An ode to earth, the ground under our feet, where we come from and where we are going. SOIL is a powerful dance performance about identity, language, and belonging. Through movement and the rhythms of Kalaallisut (Greenlandic), it explores how we connect to culture—beyond words, across borders, and through the body.
When You're Alone In Your Forest Always Remember You're Not Alone by Vilma Pitrinaite | 1 - 9 Aug | 22:00 (35 mins)
A solo performance, a raw cry against the brutality of our times. With indignant voices rising one after another, fragmented movements evolve into a ritual of against helplessness. A polyphonic song from the Lithuanian resistance, 'The Brothers of the Forest', fills the air. Collective voices amplify the individual power of the dancer, who stands steadfast, unfurling with relentless determination and strength. Unexpected and thought-provoking, Vilma Pitrinaite's ((LT/BE) work features fearless movement and an intensely charged, hopeful electronic music soundscape.
Inlet by Hani Dance | 1 – 23 Aug | 17:30 (1 hour)
Inspired by Romulus and Remus' legend and the symbolic meaning of Rome's city walls, Inlet explores the significance of borders throughout history. Raising thought-provoking questions about walls and their timely relevance, Inlet examines their role as boundaries, fortifications and barriers that influence human interactions and perceptions. Through raw movement and compelling visuals, the dancers capture the essence of separation, confinement and yearning for freedom. Without distraction, their bodies convey universal truths that resonate deeply with our present society. Inlet is more than a performance: it's an immersive experience, an invitation to reflect, feel and break free.
These Mechanisms by Christine Thynne and Robbie Synge | 1 – 20 Aug | 17:15 (1 hour)
In her eightieth year, Christine wondered if she might create her first show. Who says an octogenarian shouldn’t be working with stepladders, electronics... and water? Assisted by her helper, Calum, Christine manipulates and raps her way along a precarious journey of movement and sound, taking us to surprising places. These Mechanisms is a performance of persistence and joy, celebrating the beautiful functions and limits of a human body and the desire to make things happen.
Solitude Without Loneliness by Malcolm Sutherland | 2 - 10 Aug | 16:05 (1 hour)
In this evocative performance, bodies and characters collapse, separate, and reform in a constant search for meaning, attachment, and understanding. Voices extend from these bodies as they navigate busy streets, seeking comfort in their unique landscapes. This exhausting yet familiar quest for connection unfolds through moments of humour, intimacy, and longing. From karaoke bars to restaurants, this contemporary dance work combines text, movement and situational absurdity. Solitude without Loneliness invites empathy through the cyclical endurance of the performers, reminding us of the universal desire for union with one another and with ourselves.
DOUBLE TAKE by PRIME & LYDC | 5 – 10 Aug | 13:15 (1 hour)
An enchanting intergenerational celebration of the power of dance. Dance Base’s in-house companies, PRIME and Lothian Youth Dance Company (LYDC) to present a unique showcase. Welcoming dancers to the stage from age 16 to 82, this joyful collaboration showcases new works and returning favourites.
Evolution by YDance | 5 – 10 Aug | 14:40 (1 hour)
Evolution showcases dance from Scotland and Estonia in a bold, dynamic performance. Presented by YDance, this international collaboration features the National Youth Dance Company of Scotland, ETA Kompanii, and Project Y Evolution Company, guided by acclaimed artists from Rhythmosaic. Experience bold, dynamic performances that push creative boundaries and showcase the power of dance to connect and inspire.
What ever happened to Harmony Banks? by Tess Letham | 5-10 August | 18:40 (45 mins)
From media darling to public downfall, this playful and poignant new show imagines the rise and fall of a fictional icon through a vibrant blend of dance-theatre and live documentary. Surreal, daring, and sprinkled with bittersweet humour, it explores how women are shaped — and shattered — by the spotlight.
Fields (Extract) by In the Fields Project | 5 – 24 Aug | 17:15 (1 hour)
Playful and poetic, Fields (Extract) draws the audience into a textured landscape of stone, where patterns of dwelling are made and unmade, shaped by land, time and human hands. The performance's episodic narrative offers snapshots of lives lived out amidst stony ground, taking in the enduring labour of ages past, present and perhaps yet to come.
Wee Man | Barrowland Ballet | 5- 17 August| 19:00 (1 hour)
A visceral and dynamic dance-theatre performance by award-winning choreographer Natasha Gilmore. With humour and heart, a cast of men and teenage boys explore the evolving expectations and rules of masculinity - its tenderness, tensions and toxic traditions.
Stepping In... Spilling Out by Mark Bleakley | 12 – 17 Aug | 19:50 (50 mins)
Stepping in… Spilling out: across your parent’s carpet, stepping into the cypher, stepping in solidarity, stepping with strangers in the club. Collaboration with French percussionist Rémy Gouffault, this work takes a walk along the personal history of Mark's dance practice through the foundational act of stepping; the different people, communities, histories and politics that collide with Mark's body through these movements. Beginning on an oversized drawing of his family home carpet, using movement, conversations, participation and music, Mark and Rémy guide you through layers of landscapes stepping through; parties, protests, rituals, mosh pits and gas clouds.
Kathryn Gordon: A Journey of Flight by Kathryn Gordon | 12 – 17 Aug | 14:30 (50 mins)
An immersive 50-minute dance performance created in Shetland and inspired by the migration of birds. Through mesmerising choreography, live music from Jenny Sturgeon and stunning projected visuals, Journey of Flight creates a thought-provoking journey of arrivals, departures, the nostalgia of place and the notion of flight itself. Set against a backdrop of flowing white sheets, the dancers move through ever changing spaces, exploring new states of being and new homes. This visually stunning piece invites audiences to reflect on the delicate balance between nature, movement and our emotional ties to place and each other.
**NEW SHOW** Akropolis I by Kennedy Muntanga Dance Theatre | 12 - 24 Aug | 16:05 (1 hour)
National Dance Awards 2025 nominee Kennedy Junior Muntanga premieres a raw, shape-shifting solo that dives deep into fractured identities, power, and survival through the lens of the African diaspora. Akropolis I introduces four bold characters — the Hare, the Lion, Eva, and the Commander — each embodying a different legacy of migration, memory and resistance. Charged, physical, and cinematic, this is the first chapter of an ambitious trilogy exploring the realities of diasporic life across generations. A striking new voice in contemporary dance and storytelling, Muntanga invites you to witness, question, and feel. **NEW SHOW**
Bolero by Kinetic Orchestra | 12 –23 Aug | Finland | 18:40 (45 mins)
Partnering mavericks Kinetic Orchestra throw themselves around with precision, poise and surprise. Get ready for Finnish flair in the air. Two dancers specialised in acrobatics and floor technique have become tools of the classical artist’s genius, but inspiration is running low, and the choreography is not progressing. The pressure is high, and emotions are heating up as they struggle to create something final.
Dancehall Blues | CoisCéim Dance Theatre | 12 – 24 Aug | 14:40 (1 hour)
Ireland’s dance theatre vanguards, CoisCéim are back with the critically acclaimed, sell-out hit from Dublin Fringe! David Bolger’s “expertly ingenious” (Irish Times) duet grooves between hope and the dystopia of an angry world. Bold, gripping, unmissable.
through warm temperatures by Mele Broomes |12-24 August | 13:15 (1hour)
Affirming castor oil's legacy as a natural remedy, an elixir, and a historic source that transcends boundaries. Vocals, dance, cello and electronic soundscapes takes you on a journey of reconnection with nature and the body. Moving towards a place of warmth. Inviting release.
Score | Isaiah Wilson | 12 – 24 Aug | 21:40 (30 mins)
A late-night curiosity exploring the intersection of where the body merges with technology. Be bewildered. Score uses electric muscle stimulation to explore how technology impacts human autonomy, questioning the loss of free will and the body’s relevance in an increasingly tech-driven world.
Fringe Fragment by Various Companies | 18 & 19 Aug | 13:15 (1 hour)
Produced by Dance Base, Fringe Fragments is a new pitching platform showcasing dance talent from around the world. Designed as a public event and industry showcase, audiences can see excerpts from tour-ready performances by international and UK artists. As well as enjoying a jam-packed hour of new choreography and there will also be an opportunity to hear from and get to know the artists.
NOEUD | DAB Company |19 – 24 Aug | 14:30 (50 mins)
NOEUD is the proposal by dance company DAB, in which we delve into the working methodologies shared by Eduardo Chillida and Cristobal Balenciaga. The creation of spaces and curvilinear figures are the concepts of both artists that guide the movement of their time towards freedom. The period in which they lived has also served as an inspiration for us: we have observed the political, social and cultural situation of their time and postponed three dancers on stage with the intention of finding the path from constraint to freedom.
Née by Cielo rasO| 19 – 24 Aug | 19:50 (1 hour)
Née is a work that moves us, gives roots to the human, caresses loneliness, stratifies loss, accompanies disillusionment, emancipates disenchantment, energises absence, fights for love, virtualises the nearby, sustains magic, frightens off demons, humanises the inanimate, returns from the dark, attacks the imagination, separates fears and puts them in order, crosses the air and strives. With elegance, it builds a journey far removed from noise. It is told in the first person, thoughtful and transformative.
Puff by Alice Ripoll and Hiltinho Fantástico | 19 – 24 Aug | 19:00 (45 mins)
"Puff" in Portuguese means a magical disappearance. Puff explores disguise in African Diaspora dances, where silenced cultures, messages, and traditions are transmitted. Samba, capoeira, and passinho showcase speedy footwork and body dissociation, creating illusions that suggest something is being concealed.
IV - Here & Now Showcase by SERAFINE1369 | 19-24 August | 15:50 (1 hour)
A storm is breaking. IV (4) is a quartet bringing together bodies in movement and stillness, in light and in darkness, to create a series of tableaux that unfold and fracture into moments of blissed out dancing. IV considers cycles, time, divination and decomposition. A system of loose dancing emerging from tight structure; a choreographic machine; a meditative play between instinctive rhythms and clock time.
Please note, due to unforeseen circumstances, performances of HK Soul Showcase - Triple Bill will no longer be taking place.
Iamge: Score by Isaiah Wilson
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