traditional dance – The NEN – North Edinburgh News

Celebrating Traditional Dance on Screen

Friday 25 April at 18:30 – Scottish Storytelling Centre

The opening night of this year’s Pomegranates Festival of international traditional dance (25 – 30 April), kicks off with a packed programme of ten short films celebrating traditional dance on screen.

Traditional dance is rarely presented through the genre of screen dance, and this exclusively curated programme aims to fill in this gap. It honours multiple types of trad dance styles and diverse cultural heritage traditions, including Scottish Step and Highland, Indian Classical, East African, Chinese, Hip Hop, and Breakdance.

The programme includes three diverse films directed by award-winning Canadian dance filmmaker Marlene Millar, Firstly, To Begin the Dance Once More – the newly revisedTraditional Dance Forum of Scotland’s first-ever screen dance production exploring Scottish and Egyptian stories of motherhood, featuring choreography by Vincent Hantam, andset to the new epic poem about Beira and Bride (the Queen of Winter and the Goddess of Spring) by Scottish storyteller Donald Smith.

Secondly, Offering – inspired by traditional dance processions from the Quebec-based Migration Dance Film collective, world-renowned for their innovative use of vocals and body percussive movement. Offering is directed by Marlene Millar in collaboration with choreographer Sandy Silva with the guest appearance of street dance sensation Omari Motion Carter. And thirdly, Bhairava filmed on the ancient site of Hampi in India, directed by Marlene Millar and Philip Szporer (Mouvement Perpétuel, Montréal) with cinematography by Kes Tagney.

Kes Tagney’s recent short Home featuring Scottish step dancer Sophie Stephenson accompanied by musician Ronan Martin is also featured in the programme.

The Bright Fabric of Life directed by Mare Tralla

Other highlights include The Bright Fabric of Life directed by celebrated Estonian artist and filmmaker Mare Tralla; Deer Dancer which was first released as a major commission at the Edinburgh Art Festival in 2019 and features three dances, including Highland Fling, by Hanna Tuulikki exploring male masculinity in dance; two breakdance shorts Autocorrect commissioned by Sadler’s Wells and directed by this year’s choreographer-in-residence MC, hip hop dance artist Jonzi D; and Second Guessing by Glasgow Bgirl Emma Ready which explores the harm experienced by coercive control.

HOME directed by Kes Tagney

Two other rarely screened films include Chinese short Crowned by Flame directed and performed by Lyuxian Yu; and Echoes of a Taiko Drum which was produced by Billingham Festival Director Olga Maloney, and features a unique fusion of Taiko Drums, Georgian, Irish and Indian Kathak Dance.

This 80-minute shorts film programme will be followed by a Q&A with featured creatives, including Scottish Bgirl Emma Ready, Estonian filmmaker Mare Tralla and Canadian filmmaker Kes Tagney.

Iliyana Nedkova, who together with Wendy Timmons is co-founder and curator of the Pomegranates Festival said: “I am very pleased that this year’s Pomegranates Festival’s opening evening show is all about world traditional dance and music specifically devised for the camera, not for the stage.

“I believe that magic happens where cinematography meets choreography. Following years of curating, judging and producing short dance films and screen dance festivals, I always wondered why we don’t have a dedicated platform for trad dance on screen.

“Well, while waiting for the dance film festival circuit to create such a platform, we decided to launch our own global programme and perhaps sow the (pomegranate) seeds of world trad dance on screen by selecting some of the best and rarest examples in this emerging new genre.”

Mare Tralla, the Estonian-born and Edinburgh-based artist, as one of the creatives featured in the programme said: ‘I can’t wait for the launch on the big screen of the latest Traditional Dance Forum of Scotland’s screen dance production The Bright Fabric of Life at the opening night of the Pomegranates Festival.

“I designed the set and costumes, shot and edited this new film in the summer 2024 with a great team of creatives using the body language of traditional African dance choreographed specifically for the camera by the esteemed Vincent Hantam.

“The film tells stories of motherhood and kinship, love and loss from Sub-Saharan Africa and Scotland. Also on the night we will celebrate the paperback release of Mhairi Collie’s book which inspired our film.

“The book, just like the film, explores the dramatic life story of Sylvie, an Ethiopian patient and Juliet – a Scottish surgeon.’

The dance films featured in the World Trad Dance on Screen programme at the Pomegranates Festival are:

AUTOCORRECT (2022, Dir. Jonzi D)
Commissioned by Sadler’s Wells and directed and performed by Jonzi D, AUTOCORRECT features three male hip hop dancers from New York, London and Kampala. The short film takes inspiration from the cerebral poetry of Saul Williams, supported by Soweto Kinch’s textured soundscape.

Bhairava (2017, Dir. Marlene Millar and Philip Szporer)
This short evokes facets of Shiva, the Lord of Dance, as both the destroyer of evil and the guardian of time. Carried by a strong and deeply evocative musical score and by the singular energy of the ancient site of Hampi, dancer and choreographer Shantala Shivalingappa embodies the presence and distinctive qualities of Bhairava. With her technical mastery and refined expressivity, she alternates between moments of precise symbolic gestures and more abstract body language surging from the powerful and omnipresent persona of Bhairava, creating a vivid incarnation of the deity.

Crowned by Flame (2024, Dir. Lyuxian Yu)
In this work, the artist uses cigarette boxes (the world’s smallest drum), fire, and the traditional Ji Guan Headpiece (Cockscomb Headpiece)—key symbols of the Chinese ethnic minority Yi culture—to tell a powerful story about navigating cultural heritage and personal freedom. The performance contrasts black modern props with vibrant, traditional ethnic objects, creating a striking collision between cultural pride and the push for liberation.

Deer Dancer (2019, Dir. Hanna Tuulikki)
A cross-artform project that grew out of research into the Deer Dance of the indigenous Yaqui of Sonora, Mexico, and their Pascua Yaqui descendants in Arizona, USA; the Highland Fling of the Scottish Highlands; and the Abbots Bromley Horn Dance of Staffordshire, England. The piece was further informed by experiential research into hunting practices and by direct observation of deer in their habitat and explores the mimesis of male deer behaviours, from the capering fawn, to the rutting stag, and how they can inform a ‘performance’ of masculinity by male dancers, and the implications of these gendered performances in society today.

Echoes of a Taiko Drum (2022, Dir. Olga Maloney)A new short screen dance and music film, produced by Billingham Festival Director Olga Maloney, featuring a unique fusion of Taiko Drums, Georgian, Irish and Indian Kathak Dance.Winner of the Best Audience Award at the European Short Film Festival in Berlin in 2022.

HOME (2024, Dir. Kes Tagney)

Shot in Scotland and Cornwall, HOME premiered last year at the Inverness Film Festival. It features Scottish step dancer Sophie Stephenson accompanied by musician Ronan Martin. Inspired by Stepheson’s love for Scotland, at its heart is a real sense of belonging and feeling of deep connection with the place you call Home.

Offering (2023, Dir. Marlene Millar)
Using the traditional dance procession choreography, Offering creates a meaningful and joyful conversation between the body percussion artists featured in all Migration Dance Film Projects to date and new emerging artists from street, hip hop and gigue dance and circus arts. Special guest appearance by the British hip hop artist OmariMotion Carter.

Second Guessing (2023, Dir. Emma Ready and Therese Lynch )
Second Guessing investigates coercive control from the victim’s perspective. Emma Ready is a Bgirl, choreographer, and creative educator. During her 25 years of breaking, Emma has established an international reputation as an inspirational, and empathetic motivator.

The Bright Fabric of Life (2024, Dir, Mare Tralla)Using the body language of traditional African dance choreographed specifically for the camera, The Bright Fabric of Life tells stories of motherhood and kinship, and love and loss from Scotland and Sub-Saharan Africa. It captures the poignant story of Sylvie – a beautiful Ethiopian girl, whose dreams are destroyed when a disastrous childbirth leaves her broken both emotionally and physically, facing rejection and isolation.

To Begin the Dance Once More (2023, Dir, Marlene Millar) Four international dancers based in Scotland and Egypt reimagine the mythological world inhabited by the Celtic and Egyptian mothers of Earth. A beautifully compelling and vital piece of storytelling and movement for the screen. Featuring choreography by former Scottish Ballet Principal Dancer Vincent Hantam, and set to a new epic poem about Beira and Bride (the Queen of Winter and the Goddess of Spring) by Scottish storyteller Donald Smith.

The Pomegranates Festival (25 – 30 Apr) is the annual platform for the diverse 250+ individual and organisational members of the Traditional Dance Forum of Scotland to teach, learn and perform in new dance theatre and screen dance shows, as well as new productions and residencies. This is the fourth edition of Scotland’s annual festival of international traditional dance, initiated, curated and produced by the Traditional DanceForum of Scotland. It is presented in partnership with TRACS (Traditional Arts and Culture Scotland), Moray House School of Education and Sport, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh Central Library, Dance Base and the Scottish Storytelling Centre.

In 2025 the Pomegranates Festival is funded by Creative Scotland Multi-Year Funding through TRACS (Traditional Arts and Culture Scotland); the City of Edinburgh Council and University of Edinburgh through the Edinburgh Local Community Fund.

For tickets and more information visit https://www.tdfs.org/pomegranates/

Pomegranates Festival programme announced

FULL PROGRAMME ANNOUNCED – 25-30 April 2025

The Traditional Dance Forum of Scotland is delighted to announce full details of its fourth Pomegranates Festival which will run from Friday 25 to Wednesday 30 April 2025 at various venues across Edinburgh.

The Pomegranates Festival in partnership with TRACS (Traditional Arts and Culture Scotland) and Moray House School of Education and Sport, at the University of Edinburgh celebrates Scottish traditional dance alongside world traditional dance practised by New Scots and cultural migrant communities across Scotland.

It is supported by Creative Scotland and includes exhibitions, ceilidhs, workshops, walking tours, and talks about traditional dance from Scotland and around the world. Every year the Pomegranates Festival explores the intrinsic links of traditional dance with live music, film, fashion, poetry, art and heritage craft.

This year’s festival theme is masks invitingfestival-goers to experience the power of masks used in different traditions; and reflect on the significance, beauty and mystery of masks and mask-making in traditional dance from antiquity to modern days.

The festival opens on Friday 25 April with a packed programme of short films of traditional dance followed by a Q&A with featured creatives, including the award-winning filmmakers Marlene Millar and Mare Tralla. Marlene’s films include To Begin the Dance Once More(2023) which tells the story of displacement and water crisis reimagined through the mythological world by three climate refugees from Scotland and Egypt; and Bhairava (2018) filmed on location in India which evokes Shiva, the Lord of Dance as both the destroyer of evil driving out terrible deeds, and the guardian of time.

Also screening is Mare Tralla’s new screen dance The Bright Fabric of Life (2024) which tenderly addresses the life-altering injuries sustained by women in labour, told using traditional African dance and music; Home (2023, Dir. Kes Tagney) which explores the deep connection people have for the place they call home featuring Scottish Step dancer Sophie Stephenson;Crowned by Flame (2024, Dir. Lyuxian Yu) about the Chinese Yi ethnic community’s Cigarette Box dance; Armea (2024. Dir. Letila Mitchell)which chronicles the homecoming of the dancers and musicians of the Pacific island of Rotuma; On Canada Day(2024, Dir. Gurdeep Pandher) reflecting on Canada’s past through a dance fusion of Punjabi and Celtic traditions; and Autocorrect (2022, Dir. Jonzi D) inspired by the COVID-19 face masks, set to the spoken word of Saul Williams and commissioned by Sadler’s Wells.

Hip-hop dance theatre artist, choreographer and dancer Jonzi D returns to the festival as this year’s choreographer-in-residence and will be working with traditional dance artists based in Scotland to create this year’s masked festival finale Hidden Faces which will premiere on the International Day of Dance (29 April 2025).

Other highlights include:

● The premiere sharing of not for glory – a skirling new dance-theatre performance of bodies and bagpipes, and rebellious unravelling of traditional dance and music by Jack Anderson, Charlotte Mclean and in collaboration with musician Malin Lewis.

● The premiere sharing of Sequins – a new hip hop dance theatre solo show by Kalubi Mukangela-Jacoby set to the Pomegranates Festival spoken word commission of Sequins of Poems to Dance To by Ian McMillan.

● An evening of poetry, dance and discussion focusing on Intangible Cultural Heritage and its relationship with Scottish traditional dance.

● A new exhibition of masks (3 Apr-12 May) by Pomegranates Festival artist-in-residence Lorraine Pritchard – anEdinburgh-based mask maker, costume-designer and fashion model, plus the only Scottish artist performing at the Venice Carnival 2025. Lorraine’s first solo exhibition, especially curated for the festival, zooms on the relationship between the heritage craft of mask-making and traditional dance and features masks, photographs, films and books, including Lorraine’s new Venetian Carnival masks which ahead of the exhibition will be premiered and modelled by the artist at this year’s Carnevale in Venice 21 February – 4 March.

● A day of walking tours led by dance historians Alena Shmakova and Agnes Ness about the role of women in traditional dance past and present, with focus on the role of Mary, Queen of Scots.

● A dance theatre matinee which is the culmination of Pomegranates dance artists-in-residence at Edinburgh’s Abbeyhill and Royal Mile Primary Schools. Over 20 resident dancers – all postgraduate students in Dance Science and Education at the University of Edinburgh will perform alongside the Scot Polish musician-in-residence Aga Idczak. The choreography of the Scot Cypriot artist Sotirios Panagoulias and the costume design by the New York born Scot Polish designer Gerry Gapinski are co-created with over fifty pupils aged 10-11 years. The matinee is the outcome of an unique co-devising method of Socratic Circles, weaving in the children’s ideas, drawings and poems about the wee objects selected by each pupil to represent their diverse heritage.

In the lead up to the start of the festival there will also be a podcast released on 8 March to celebrate International Women’s Day, previewing the story of Mary, Queen of Scots in Edinburgh and her passion for dance, with New Scot Alena Shmakova.

Plus, there will be a Ceilidh Plus mixing Scottish, Bulgarian and Irish traditional dancing on 21 March to celebrate 10 years of the Bulgarian traditional dance school in Edinburgh and St Patrick’s Day on 17 March.

This popular event is part of the festival’s year-round programme of Ceilidh Plus evenings held at the Kings Hall that combine Scottish dancing with traditional dances from the migrant and diaspora communities in Scotland.

During the festival the Ceilidh Plus event will showcase a mix of Scottish, Polish and Hungarian dance styles.

All festival events are presented on a free or affordable ‘pay what you can‘ basis.

Wendy Timmons and Iliyana Nedkova, Festival Co-curators said: “In 2025 when we celebrate Edinburgh’s 900 years journey from the 12th Century City of David to the 21st City of Diversity, we are very proud to present the fourth edition of Pomegranates – Edinburgh’s festival of diversity in traditional dance, the festival that has already made it to the #ListHot100 as one of the 100 most influential cultural events of the year.

“Expect a flair of mystery as this year our festival artists will don their dance masks and take on whole new personalities honouring their traditions and our global living heritage.”

John Ravenscroft, Head of the Centre for Research in Education, Inclusion and Diversity (CREID) at Moray House School of Education and Sport, University of Edinburgh said: “I am very pleased to continue to forge our strategic academic partnership with the Traditional Dance Forum of Scotland which dates back to 2018. Great to see the return of the Pomegranates Festival choreographer-in-residence Jonzi D who delivered the seminal Decolonising the Curriculum keynote lecture at Moray House School of Education and Sport as part of last year’s festival.

“I am also excited about the opening matinee which is part of the wider campaign advocating for the diverse forms of world traditional dance becoming a primary ingredient of our children’s primary education.

“This campaign is run by the Traditional Dance Forum of Scotland in conjunction with our Centre and our School while the matinee is funded by the University of Edinburgh through the Edinburgh Local Community Fund.”

MC, Jonzi D, hip hop dance theatre artist and choreographer-in-residence at this year’s Festival, said: “Following my Pomegranates festival debut last year, I am really honoured to be invited back as this year’s choreographer-in-residence, plus I am particularly partial to the new festival theme of masks.

“Traditional dance is important, including masked dance, because it represents living heritage while celebrating difference. I think we’ve reached a period in society where our differences are being used against us; our differences are being used to keep us separated; our differences are being used as judgmental tools. Manufactured polarisation. But our infinite differences define our identities, and still we have more in common than we have apart. Pomegranates festival celebrates our differences.”

Vanessa Boyd, Interim Head of Dance at Creative Scotland says: “Pomegranates Festival continues to be an important platform celebrating Scotland’s rich traditional dance heritage alongside the diverse influences that shape our communities today.

“This year’s focus on masks highlights a powerful symbol that has been used in dance for centuries, transforming performers and deepening storytelling across cultures.

“Audiences can look forward to experiencing new work and exploring the rich and diverse traditional dance forms that the Pomegranates Festival has to offer across a packed programme of live performance, screen, workshops and community gatherings.”

This is the fourth edition of Scotland’s annual festival of international traditional dance, initiated, curated and produced by the Traditional DanceForum of Scotland.

It is presented in partnership with TRACS (Traditional Arts and Culture Scotland), Moray House School of Education and Sport, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh Central Library, Dance Base and the Scottish Storytelling Centre.

For tickets and more information visit https://www.tdfs.org/pomegranates/

Edinburgh to host New Ceilidh Season of Scottish and World Trad Dance

As part of its 10^th anniversary celebrations, the Traditional Dance Forum of Scotland (TDFS) is launching a brand new series of Ceilidh Plus events that will fuse Scottish and world dance traditions.

Curated and hosted by TDFS’s dance musician-in-residence Chris Lyons (multi-instumentalist), Ceilidh Plus will kick off on Saturday 2 November, with dances and tunes from Scotland, China and the USA, led and accompanied by hand-picked Scotland-based dance artists and musicians from diverse backgrounds, including Morag Brown (fiddle), Marina Sharp (Ceilidh dance), Jack Weir (guitar), Angel Godwin (American Country Line dance), Yuxi Jiang (Chinese Square dance), Yanmei Bowie (Chinese Square dance), Eddie McGuire (Chinese bamboo flute), Chenhao Wang (two-stringed Chinese fiddle) and Tai Shing Lin (Chinese dulcimer percussion).

This will be followed by a second night on Saturday 7 December of ceilidh dances and tunes from Scotland, mixed with world trad dance from Greece and Italy. It will be called and accompanied by Rona Wilkie, Marina Sharp, Jack Weir, Vassia Bouchagiar-Walker, Stefanos Tzotzolakis, Lara Russo and band members of the Badwills.

This new Ceilidh Plus seriesis one of the highlights of TDFS’s Ten out of Ten series of events to mark its 10th anniversary and celebrate the diversity and breadth of traditional dance activities by its members.

Dance musician-in-residence Chris Lyons who contributes to TDFS’s work year round, said: “I believe that the tradition bearers of Scottish Ceilidh would be delighted to share the stage and the dance floor with the dance traditions of the other cultures which have become an integral part of contemporary Scotland – from Irish Ceili to Bulgarian Folk, from Italian Pizzicca Pizzicca to Greek Rembetiko, or from American Country Line to Chinese Square Dance as in our first Ceilidh Plus.

“Although there are regular and popular Ceilidh nights across the country’s village halls and cultural centres, there are hardly any events which would provide space for the folk fusion of Scottish Ceilidh with other world trad dances. Ceilidh Plus is about to change this and hopefully establish a new tradition.”

Iliyana Nedkova Creative Producer of TDFS said: ““Ceilidh Plus is a great opportunity for the multi-ethnic communities in and around Edinburgh to come together for a dance and music experience rooted in respect for both Scottish and world traditional cultures.

“We hope both dancers and non-dancers will join us for an evening of great music and entertainment and help us mark our 10^th anniversary in style.”

Ceilidh Plus is funded through Creative Scotland’s TASGADH (Traditional Arts Small Grants). All proceeds are reinvested into TDFS’s year-round programme which aims to diversify traditional dance practised across Scotland.

For tickets and more information on Ceilidh Plus and other traditional dance events happening this winter visit https://www.tdfs.org/ten-out-of-ten/