Award-winning choreographer brings humour and the absurd to Edinburgh Fringe 2025 – tickets on sale now
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Edinburgh Festival Fringe presents a Scottish premiere of an intensely physical and visually rich dance from an award-winning choreographer, which promises humour and absurdity in equal measure. This is paid for commercial content.
In the Bushes, is the title of this theatrical, wry, energetic dance work which showcases the very distinctive style of choreographer and director Léa Tirabasso.
We caught up with Léa, who shares her time between London and Luxembourg to ask her more about the piece – her fourth full-length dance work – which was inspired by questions around the gaze, societal conventions and fed by the reading of The Accidental Species: Misunderstandings of Human Evolution, by Henry Gee.
“The piece is very absurd, but it’s also very funny,” she says. “I wanted us to laugh. The world desperately needs to laugh… I wanted to embrace nonsense.”
Henry Gee’s premise is: “There is nothing special about being human, any more than there is anything special about being a guinea pig or a geranium.”
Léa explains: “I have been exploring through my work, what being human means, and we are bizarre, quirky, grotesque but lovable creatures.”
“I do not think you need to be a dance expert to enjoy this,” she said. “The movement is the centre but we use voice and faces. It’s a very playful piece and would appeal to anyone who wants to laugh and who maybe, has lost faith in humanity.”
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The hour-long dance will be performed in the Main Hall, Summerhall, from Wednesday August 13 to Monday August 25 at 16.35pm (no show on August 19). See ticket details here.
About the production
Reviewed as “Masterfully choreographed” by Broadway World, In the Bushes brings six extraordinary dancers in a surreal world. With a cinematic electronic score by Johanna Bramli and Ed Chivers, the production is a delight for the eyes and the ears – with bursts of classical, opera and pop music accompanying the fast-paced action.
The quirky colourful costumes, sometimes worn, sometimes discarded, designed by Jennifer Lopes Santos, add to the visual stimulation, while the atmospheric lighting states are designed by Ben Moon.
The six dancers are Catarina Barbosa, Georges Maikel Pires Monteiro, Karl Fagerlund Brekke, Laura Lorenzi, Mayowa Ogunnaike and Stefania Pinato.
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Léa, who studied art history and literature in Lyon before training at London Contemporary Dance School, manages to bring a playful touch to some serious philosophical questions.
I wanted lightness and that’s what the absurdity helped me achieve
But the production is nonetheless physically extremely demanding on the dancers, and gives the audience plenty to ponder.
The dance was first staged in November last year, and has been performed in France, London and Luxembourg. When asked to describe who the dance would appeal to and what the audience can expect Léa said: “Someone who wants to go on a journey with us, enter a world that is surreal, someone who will allow themselves to feel feelings which might be uncomfortable.
“It’s an experience,” she promises.
Book your tickets
For tickets to the show, which cost £17 (concessions £14.50), or £10 (concessions £7.50) on Wednesday 13 only, visit the website here or call 0131 560 1580. (Suitable for ages 14+, some nudity and swearing)