ARE YOU Still DANCING?

Dance4

Presents

Nottdance

7-17 March 2013

I have already mentioned Nottdance, but the press release is still lurking in my inbox, tempting me to travel south. Of course, the start clashes with Steve Reich's visit to Glasgow, so I might be late, but I wouldn't be the only person heading to the Midlands from Scotland. Colette Sadler is taking a new work with a title that, frankly, I cannot resist - On Order and Anarchy - and Jack Webb is take his tour down there...

My main enthusiasm is for the tone of the festival. Here's the artistic director of Dance4, Paul Russ, explaining the ethos.

"For the past 23 years, Nottdance has earned its international reputation amongst artists as a vital platform to present new ideas and for audiences this remains a festival that challenges perceptions whilst being playful and entertaining."

I have often been worried that the end of The National Review of Live Art would spell a disaster for work that doesn't easily fit into the boxes I make up in my head to describe art. But it looks as if events like this, or the NTS/Arches season of Auteurs, are taking up the slack, but with a more specific focus.

It's always a bit of a hit and miss experience with experimental art, which is why it is best to taste it at a festival: that way, if one thing fails to hit the art bone, the next show might. I suppose I could say the same thing about stand-up comedy, although dance events are less likely to contain show names based around puns on common phrases.