3 To Seecircus

All-female Australian troupe YUCK Circus (Assembly George Square Gardens, 2–28 August, 4.20pm) are once again ‘ready to flip off double standards and kick art in the face’, landing (feet first) in Edinburgh with more acrobatics, dancing and confessions. With Tulu, Circus Abyssinia (Underbelly’s Circus Hub On The Meadows, 5–26 August, 2.05pm) deliver extraordinary physical feats while telling a powerful story, that of the first African woman to win a gold medal at the Olympics. Expect contortions, fire juggling and a killer soundtrack. Another group from the antipodes, Oat Milk & Honey (Summerhall, 2–27 August, 10am) go big on bold acrobatics, all the while exploring issues around anxiety. A heady mix.

Cronin’s own experiences of the dance world are perhaps more unusual than most when it comes to appreciating the power of an ageing body. In her 20s, she danced with Pina Bausch’s company at a time when the German was a pioneer for working with older dancers (indeed Bausch herself continued to dance into her 60s). ‘When I joined the company, there were already people there who were a good ten years older than me which, of course, in your 20s, that’s ancient,’ Cronin says. ‘One couldn’t help but be impressed by their wealth of experience and ability.’

Bausch also made space for women to return to dance after giving birth, frequently accommodating children in her rehearsal room. ‘And this was in the 80s,’ says Cronin. ‘It wasn’t, in my experience, something that I would have met or heard about in other walks of life; you know, that sort of latitude.’

Now Cronin believes attitudes are starting to change. ‘I had, I think, assumed wrongly that this piece would be something for older dancer festivals. But that’s not how it seems to be panning out at all . . . I think people are interested these days in looking at difference; different kinds of bodies.’

Age, says Cronin, doesn’t have to stand in antithesis to that preconception of the agile dancer. ‘The image of the dancer is about being lithe, flexible, muscular, capable; and I suppose we are those things as we age, but in different ways.’

Dances Like A Bomb, ZOO Southside, 15–27 August, 2.40pm.