VERTICAL DREAMSCAPE
Sometimes a show has to come back and nag me before I finally listen.
DUSK/NIGHT/DAWN initially landed in front of me and, I’ll admit, I dismissed it. Then it somehow wandered back into my thoughts. I looked at it again. Thought about it some more.
And eventually realised: I need to see this.
Thank goodness I did.
Because DUSK/NIGHT/DAWN turned out to be one of those Fringe experiences where my expectations were completely dismantled.
The production comes from NYC collective VERTICAL DREAMSCAPE and features US Pole Art Champion Donna Carnow alongside interdisciplinary artist Gina Alm. It follows a pole dancer through a night of work as reality, craft and identity begin dissolving into a series of increasingly strange, sensual and cinematic worlds.
Now, an audience member could look at the description and think:
Pole dancing for an entire show? Won’t that get boring?
No.
Absolutely not.
I was completely mesmerised from beginning to end.
In fact, when the production finished, I genuinely didn’t want it to end. I could happily have remained in that room and watched the performers continue.
The opening is unusual.
Actually, strange might be the better word.
Initially I wasn’t entirely sure what I was watching or where the production intended to take me. But I’ve increasingly found at the Fringe that when a production is willing to break theatrical conventions, that’s often when something memorable happens.
DUSK/NIGHT/DAWN certainly isn’t interested in behaving conventionally.
There is an almost dreamlike quality to the production, with individual sequences and images flowing into one another. Yet despite its experimental nature, I never felt completely lost. Through movement, lighting and sound, it remained apparent which world or scene we had entered.
And then there are the performers themselves.
Donna Carnow and Gina Alm are extraordinary athletes.
There really isn’t another way of putting it.
The strength, control, flexibility and precision required to perform some of what happens on that stage is remarkable. Yet reducing their work simply to athleticism would do both performers a disservice.
There is artistry here too.
Their bodies become part of the storytelling. Movement replaces conventional dialogue and the pole becomes far more than a piece of apparatus. It is incorporated into a constantly changing visual landscape.
At times, I felt as though I’d wandered into a circus and was watching highly skilled trapeze artists.
Then the production would shift again and become something darker, stranger or more cinematic.
That’s part of its appeal.
You never quite know what image DUSK/NIGHT/DAWN is going to present next.
The technical execution is equally impressive.
Lighting and sound aren’t simply accompanying the performance; they’re fundamental parts of it. Both are used to create atmosphere and transform the performance space, allowing the production to move between different environments without relying upon conventional scenery.
There was one sequence involving blue lighting that I personally found a little too bright, but that’s a very small criticism of an otherwise superb technical production.
Indeed, one of the things that struck me most was just how precisely everything had to work.
The performers, lighting, sound and movement need to operate together. In a production requiring this degree of physical control, there isn’t much room for error.
And yet it appeared effortless.
That, of course, is usually the sign that an enormous amount of work has gone into making something look effortless.
What I particularly appreciated is that DUSK/NIGHT/DAWN completely challenges the idea some people might have of what pole dancing is.
This isn’t simply a display of impressive tricks.
It is physical theatre.
It is dance.
It is athletic performance.
And at times, it becomes visual art.
If anything, I hope audiences leave wanting to try pole dancing themselves – although after seeing the strength required here, perhaps book the beginner class rather than immediately attempting anything you’ve just witnessed on stage.
Probably safer.
This is also one of those productions where the Edinburgh Fringe feels like the perfect home. Experimental work should be able to arrive here, challenge expectations and show audiences something they wouldn’t necessarily encounter in conventional theatre.
And DUSK/NIGHT/DAWN did exactly that for me.
I initially dismissed it.
I ended up not wanting it to finish.
That’s quite a journey.
I would see this production again and again, and I sincerely hope Edinburgh isn’t the end of its journey. This deserves further performances and, hopefully, a tour.
Inventive, technically accomplished, beautifully performed and utterly mesmerising, DUSK/NIGHT/DAWN is something very special.
I wholeheartedly recommend it.
Overall Rating: ★★★★★ – 5 Stars
“A mesmerising collision of athleticism and art – I simply didn’t want it to end.”
https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/dusk-night-dawn
About the Author
