Focus on: 111

Certain performance partnerships thrive on contrast. Consider Joel Brown, self-trained paraplegic dancer and a member of the UK's leading inclusive dance company CandoCo, and Eve Mutso, former principal dancer with Scottish Ballet. 

Their duet, 111, part of the 2019 Made in Scotland showcase and pronounced "one hundred and eleven", could be viewed as a celebration of differences, strengths and vulnerabilities. The title references the number of vertebrae they supposedly have between them: Mutso moves like she has a hundred while Brown, with his fused spine, jokes that he only has 11.

Their sleek show exudes an air of mutual discovery. "Joel pointed out early on the curiosity of a wheelchair-using dancer from Utah and a ballet dancer from Estonia meeting up to create work in Scotland," says Mutso. "If you put us onstage and have us create independent movements, there’s an element of juxtaposition. We took that as a starting point – playing with it, twisting and challenging it, and then returning to it. It’s happened because we’re both keen to explore, and I much prefer exploring with other people."

Cued to an eclectic mix of tracks by Penguin Café Orchestra, Dawn of Midi and Radiohead, plus a judicious use of silence, the production features a simple scaffold setting that the dancers climb and swing upon. "Joel introduced me to aerial training a few years ago," Mutso explains. "I had to conquer a fear of heights and imagine movements off the ground which, coming from a ballet background, was fascinating."

"Eve’s become a bit addicted—in the best possible way—to aerial work," says Brown. "I love the floor, but I’m desperate to get up there," he adds, pointing to the ceiling.

"The scaffold has become a third partner onstage," Mutso muses, "whom we have to challenge and accept at the same time."

111 has only had a few work-in-progress showings in the UK, which renders its Fringe run an international premiere. What does Brown think the work conveys to audiences? "I’m still answering that question. The content is dance, but I think it shows quite a romantic friendship rooted in physicality." 

His rapport with Mutso he encapsulates like so: "We met in some cosmic agreement of boldness. We have chemistry together. I’ve valued Eve’s willingness to come with me up to new heights, literally."

"I just trust Joel completely," Mutso chimes in. "Onstage with him I feel at home." Asked if the show had a taste, smell or texture and what might these be, she blurts: "Metal, sweat, joy!" Meanwhile Brown, invited to describe 111 in three words, opts for cheekiness: "You’ll like it."

Throughout August, Mutso and Brown can also be seen in Night Walk for Edinburgh, an hour-long piece of augmented reality utilising iPad and headphones and created for the International Festival by the Canadian duo Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller.