Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2012: Institut français d'Ecosse

The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is one of the largest arts events in the world, so I thought I'd not only give it a mention despite much of it falling outside both the scope of music and French culture.

Fortunately France is well represented at the event, and the Institut Francais d'Ecosse is at the heart of it.

It is presenting a programme of shows, varying from children's performances to staging of music and dance spectacles, theaetre and cabaret.

It's a programme with plenty ov variety, and of particular interest to this blog is the show Jacques Brel: in song and dance, running from August 3 - 11, featuring vocalist Christine Bovill and Heels Over Head Dance Theatre (Scotland).

They describe the show as "fresh, modern, exciting and unique interpretation of Brel’s work through multimedia, music and dance.
Raw and intense, poetic and captivating. Mostly playful, like his songs. Let yourself be transported into the Belgian chansonnier’s world and experience for yourself why he has remained such a vibrant musical icon."

Also of note is the show Rock, a show by Atelier du Plateau from France. The show features actor Pierre Baux and cellist Vincent Courtois exploring the rock scene of 70s New York through dialogues, memoires and oral history, based on the book Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk by Legs McNeil and Gillian McCain.

The book deals with the birth and development of the punk movement in New York, with figues like The Stooges, Velvet Undergound, Patti Smith and Lou Reed looming over a fertile and hugely influential time in art and music. It runs from August 3 - 18.

Other shows on include It’s so nice by Compagnie Oh my God! (Wallonia) August 3 - 24, Elephant man by Compagnie du Fomenteur (France) August 3 - 24 , Lapin wants Ice Cream by Compagnie Le Petit Monde (France) August 3 - 17, Ma biche et mon lapin by Collectif Aïe Aïe Aïe (France) August 3 - 24, Morceaux de choix by Justine Curatolo and Elisa Bellanger (France) August 3 - 24 and Adventures of the Little Prince by Asylon Theatre in association with  Heels Over Head Dance Theatre (Scotland) August 13 - 27.