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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Entertainment
Lyndsey Winship

Not for Glory review – folk dance and bagpipes, but not as we know them

Jack Anderson in a plaid outfit and platform shoes in the spotlight on stage
A cracking dancer … Jack Anderson in Not for Glory at Assembly @ Dance Base. Photograph: Brian Hartley

Jack Anderson was once a champion Irish dancer who toured the world in popular shows. But when he later enrolled at contemporary dance school, he hid his past like a shameful secret. Charlotte Mclean also tried to leave behind her childhood legacy as a competitive Highland dancer. She never liked Highland dance anyway (she just liked winning competitions) but as an adult, is she finally changing her mind?

These are just two of many talking points in this anarchic dance-theatre gig from Anderson, Mclean and piper Malin Lewis. The trio are all coming to terms with their artistic inheritance, by means of distortion, deconstruction and downright mockery, then reclaiming it on their own terms. (Lewis has arguably already done this, with the acclaimed album Halocline in 2024 which saw them tagged “the future of Scottish folk”).

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