Boys Don’t Dance review: An inclusive life story
Marc Brew devises an inspiring story based on his own life
For over two decades, Marc Brew has been dancing, choreographing and running his own company. It’s a career that seemed wholly possible when he first graduated from dance school, but less so after Brew was in a life-altering car accident aged 20, leaving him paralysed from the waist down. And yet he did it anyway, going on to make highly acclaimed work and helping to redefine the disabled dance genre.
This inspiring, moving, but above all fun new show captures all of this. Inclusive to its very core, from the pre-show warnings to the audio description and sign language, Brew has worked hard to make everyone feel welcome. But while it’s his life story being played out on stage, he’s not the one doing it. Performer Ross Malloy captures the vibrancy of Brew’s younger self, obsessed with his BMX bike and any popular culture (especially dance) he can find on TV. Wheeling across the stage, or revelling in dressing up, he’s a bundle of joy, only becoming quashed when he’s told ‘boys don’t dance’.
Wheelchair user Piotr Iwanicki plays Brew post-accident, and when the two performers come together, it’s at turns deeply moving and wonderfully optimistic. Although designed for family audiences, with animated projections and an onstage ramp for dynamic action with both the BMX and wheelchair, in truth this is a show for any age. And I won’t be the only one who had a (happy) tear in their eye by the end.
Boys Don’t Dance, Assembly Dance Base, until 23 August, 1.15pm; picture: Brian Hartley.