Live Performance Review: Leigh Warren + Dancers: Breathe/Impulse (Edinburgh International Festival (E.I.F.) 2012), Saturday 25.08.2012 19:30 Festival Theatre, Edinburgh

I was annoyed and bored with the first half. The staging felt sloppy. There was a musician facing the audience from front and quarter the way across the stage. He was playing Didgeridoo and Acoustic Guitar, though was not very good. He was also only part of the accompaniment for this half as his playing was being mixed in with other sounds. This mix made his presence even more baffling. He could have faced the performers and been closer to the side of the stage, and therefore less of a distraction. Or he did not need to be on stage at all. Either way as it was, he was a distraction from being able to concentrate on the dancing. The music was not particularly sympathetic to the dancing either. The dancing itself in the first half felt lazy. There was moments which were clearly intended to be synchronised which were not.

I was contemplating leaving in the interval, though was distracted by a beautiful French lady who was sat next to me, striking up a conversation with me in the interval. She also was not impressed with the first half. I then landed up staying for the second half.

The second half was better. The music was provided by a string quartet who were placed in with the dance performers. This assisted with not being distracted as with in the first half. The dance itself was easier to follow due to how the performance was staged, though it still felt lazy in a similar way to how it did in the first half.

Rating: 02/10.