Eye-popping, limb-extending experiments

The thing about experimental festivals is the experiments don't always work. But this year's New Territories in Glasgow had a higher hit rate than most. Various shows merit a mention, but it was the return of Belgian wnderkind Wim Vandekeybus with his new work Scratching The Inner Fields that proved most memorable. A visceral modern fairy-tale with post-apocalyptic overtones, this dark walk in the forest indicated a return to form (and a violent divergence of critical opinion) for the choreographer who invented "Eurocrash".

By contrast, ex-Royal Ballet principal Sarah Wildor's ravishing interpretation of the Young Girl in Frederick Ashton's The Two Pigeons for Scottish Ballet was an angora-soft dream of an experience - and a salient reminder of what can be achieved when a sliver of star-quality is introduced into our domestic ballet scene.

Pointe-shoes were relatively absent at this year's Edinburgh International Festival. And even on the contemporary front it was the raggle-taggle Fringe that produced most showstoppers. Among these was Barcelona's Nats Nus Dansa with its deeply enduring Ful. Beautiful, intelligent and funny, this was a deceptively simple work based round five dancers and five moveable pillars that expressed all that is frail and funny about human relationships.

Screeching in like a dance show from another planet was lanky experimentalist Wayne McGregor's fevered new piece for Rambert Dance Company, PreSentient, which premiered at the Edinburgh Festival Theatre. Honoured with a commission for Rambert boss Christopher Bruce's farewell season, McGregor rose to the occasion with a piece that took his trademark distended virtuosity to eye-popping extremes and sealed his reputation as one of the most important choreographers of recent times.

And no review of 2002 can pass without mention of the stunning ballerina Oxana Panchenko and her Incredible Extending Limbs. With her tiny body and legs from here to London, she really is the sum of freakish proportions, but as she scythed across stage, pointe-shoe clad feet stabbing the floor in the George Piper Dances version of William Forsythe's Steptext at Glasgow's Theatre Royal, it was a freak show we couldn't help but admire.

PreSentient ful Oxana Panchenko in Steptext Scratching The Inner Fields Sarah Wilder in The Two Pigeons DANCE ARTIST OF THE YEAR

NORMAN DOUGLAS Football's loss is the dance world's gain where dancer/director/ choreographer Norman Douglas is concerned. The former semi-pro player from Govan discovered dance in a disco- dancing competition in his teens and has never looked back. In May, he made his Big Splash by defying the very real limitations of Scottish Arts Council Project Funding and corralling funds to stage a major show. It championed three relatively unknown Scots choreographers (including Douglas) at some of the nation's swankiest venues. Wishing For The Moon was a night of wonderful dance that proved a system that only awards revenue funding to a select few is letting jewels slip through its hands.

Copyright 2002 SMG Sunday Newspapers Ltd.
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