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Naive Dance Masterclass
Published on Monday, 23 April 2012
0

preview

The Old Market (venue website)
Comedy
6 May, 7:00pm-8:20pm; 13 May, 7:00pm-9:00pm

 Suitable for age 15+ only.
 Warning: Contains flashing lights.
 Warning: Contains nudity.

Here’s a real Fringe oddity – in the best possible sense – returning to Brighton after a successful debut last year.  On its face a light-hearted lampoon, Naïve Dance Masterclass pays indulgent homage to the excesses of experimental art… and celebrates, after a fashion, all those who bare their souls on stage.  Witty, eloquent, and close to unique, it’s the ideal comic counterpoint to the artier side of the Festival.

Delivered by real-life lecturer Matt Rudkin, the fake tutorial begins with an autobiographical monologue – filled with offbeat non-sequiturs, and barbed digs at the excesses of performance art.  The Naïve Dance itself, which Rudkin claims to have discovered, contains a certain kind of beauty, and there’s a big surprise (which we wouldn’t dream of spoiling) waiting halfway through.

When FringeGuru’s Richard Stamp reviewed this show in 2011, he revelled in the conspiratorial in-jokes and the shamelessly intellectual word-play.  It was quirky and liberating, he wrote, with Rudkin’s perfect characterisation rendering his pretentious persona alarmingly real.  Last year’s show felt a little short on material, but we’re promised a reworked version this time around – so if you didn’t catch it the first time, a quickstep to the box office really wouldn’t be naïve.

Read our full review of this show at the Brighton Fringe in 2011.

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FROM OUR ARCHIVES

These are archived reviews of shows from Brighton 2012.  We keep our archives online as a courtesy to performers, and for readers who'd like to research previous years' reviews.