At the end of a mega month, with a huge backlog to expose from all the shows and stages, this post comes first for one reason. Watching the sheer event of the castaways of the Théatre du Soleil on their final night at Lowland Hall was my last knoll for August. With a few more days and a few more shows to go, I have myself been shipwrecked for any other show this month. Watching Ariane Mnouchkine gather up her troupe and launch them into four frantic hours of the most human and most literal théâtre, I know I have witnessed an unsurpassable spectacle.
The analysis is for the critics. I remain just bowled over and incredibly grateful to have attaneded something as monumental. Here are my images from shores of the Fol Espoir.
Wednesday saw the launch of the programme for the EIF’s 2012 Festival. I was invited back to shoot the launch photocall and file to the press.
As Spring is starting to shake the limbs of the city to life again, I had it forgotten after such a drawn out winter, that the festival is officially on the horizon. This winter in particular was so grey, I had just accepted there would never be a summer again. But now that the proof is all around (and I went to the shop in a t-shirt this morning just to check), I can’t but get excited for August.
The EIF programme is particularly exciting this year and I cannot hide just a tinge of jealousy that I won’t be on the front lines again this year. Pick up a brochure from the Hub and while you are at it, take a final look at my exhibition EIF: The Big Picture.
Make light work, as the proverb says. Still the work required of this festival is only for the hardy. And hard work is not taken lightly.
It has been hypnotically fascinating to watch the machine of the Edinburgh International Festival come to full fruition. While I am only around as the photographer for the peak of action, it is easy to spot a year of hard work embedded in the frantic activity that is August. Artists and ambassadors from polar corners of the globe, full crews and sets and companies appearing in Edinburgh overnight by what seems like calm coincidence. As diverse a production as any one that appears on its stages. Diverse to its very core, it is easy to overlook the local hands that keep the show afloat.
Thanks for a brilliant festival.
 |
| Staff at the Usher Hall wait at the stage door as a performance closes |
 |
| An instructor from the Nrityagram Dance Ensemble keeps time during a dance class |
 |
| Wardrobe staff prepare the dancers point shoes behind the scenes at the National Ballet of Scotland |
 |
| A dancer practices classical Indian dance positions at the Nritrygram dance class |
 |
| Legendary artist Wu Hsing-kuo performs on stage as King Lear |
 |
| BBC crew prepare the lighting for the Review Show with the Legendary Music of Rajestan |
 |
| Wu Hsing-kuo and the First Minister of Taiwan |
 |
| A Rajistani musician tunes up before a recital |
 |
| Pyrovision fireworks crew prepare a week early in all conditions for the ultimate Sunday night display |
 |
| A festival patron on a touch tour of 1001 Nights where visually or hearing impared are guided through a performence using touch and description |
 |
| Melvyn Tan customises his piano to play a percussion duet for his performance |
 |
| A performer of Ea Sola prepares the mat floor backstage before a show |
 |
| Pianist Yefim Bronfman |
 |
| Shen Wei dancers warm up with slow breathing exercises before a morning dance class |
 |
| A weaver at the Dovecot Heirlooms exhibition spins fine silk on a traditional loom |
 |
| Sally Hobson, head of programme development with the festival |
 |
| Jonathon Mills, director of the Edinburgh International Festival |
A few more visual updates from on and off the stage at the Edinburgh International Festival.
The Festival has just turned 64 years young! 64 is a huge achievement for the longest running performance festival in Edinburgh. While maybe starting to feel a little senior, compared to the scenes of art, performance and theatre where it draws its programme from, it is actually very young.
While the festival pulls huge tradition and ritual from across the globe, it uses every modern convenience to drive itself. Everywhere i look i see the very old with the very new. Old performers and new audiences. Ancient venues with fresh approaches. Old circles welcoming new friends. Traditional stories told like for the first time.
 |
|
A mother and her daughter admire the Lightning Drawings exhibition at the launch night
|
 |
|
The rooftop grid system at the Festival Kings Theatre. These bars have taken the weight of thousands of performances since 1906.
|
 |
|
Amjad Ali Khan during a sound rehearsal
|
 |
| Princess Bari Choreographer Eun-Me Ahn and the Lord Provost of Edinburgh embrace in thanks at the artists reception at the City Chambers |
 |
| Conductor Alberto Zedda leads a rehearsal of the orchestra for Semiramide |
 |
| Ravi Shankar receives a standing ovation at the age of 91 at the Usher Hall |
 |
| The original curtain counter-weight at the Edinburgh Festival Theatre |
 |
|||
| Sir Gerald Elliot hosts an Indian inspired pre-theatre reception in honour of Ravi Shankar |
 |
| 2nd year students from the Royal High School stretch out before an after school dance class. THe RHS is a main focus of dance tuition with many students going on to dance professionally |
 |
|
A guest weaver operates a handmade loom at the Dovecot studios. His technique is meticulous and ancient in spinning silk.
|
 |
| Young participants in the Nrityagram Ensemble dance class look on with a snack |
It has arrived! Today is the first day of the Edinburgh International Festival and it is time to get to work.
I want to get a series of posts rolling over the next month that show the tiny mechanics of this great Festival. It is a performance of sorts itself, simply on sheer scale, and i am looking forward to documenting my way through all the smoke and mirrors. Without diluting anything with words, stay tuned and Behold!
