An expertly conceived and brilliantly executed dance piece about the steady rise of authoritarianism – if you’re wondering what to watch at the Fringe this year, count yourself lucky that you’re here while this piece is and get yourself a ticket.
This dance piece from São José dos Campos Dance Company was a highlight of my 2025 Edinburgh Fringe. It’s difficult to imagine a universe in which this piece and its brilliant company do not get picked up by the end of this run.
In true Fringe fashion, I met the Artistic Director and Resident Choreographer Lili de Grammont in the Fringe-wild on my first day at the festival. She told me about her show – how she’s worked hard to bring these young dancers and this piece all the way from Brazil and how she hopes for a life for it beyond Edinburgh.
After watching it, I feel a bit like a chosen one. I thank the creative gods that they, for whatever reason, fated me to watch this single hour of transcendent artistry.
Voyeur / Samba and Love is a high-octane double bill that examines how systems and forces larger than us use and abuse our attention. Voyeur pulses with an arresting soundscape by award-winning Brazilian film composer Ed Côrtes (City of God) and quickly reveals a thrilling ensemble of eight uniquely built and deeply connected dancers. Through the theme of voyeurism, it unpacks the ways in which we have been conditioned to observe highly charged events more than we actively respond to them.
A testament to the ingenious conception and execution of this piece, it wasn’t difficult to draw a line from what was unfolding before us to any number of issues outside those studio doors currently bleeding our lives dry of meaning or moral backbone.
The second piece – Samba and Love – was a seamless compliment to the first, picking apart the theme of burnout. Once again, I felt like I was watching a masterclass in stylistic synergy. Every choice was sleek and intentional – from the costumes to the lighting, which immediately evoked the pale blue glow of a computer screen. Every detail had a meaning, every visual cue – including the striking turquoise inflatable couch – was on a mission to subconsciously round out each of the other stylistic choices. Together, these two pieces created a stunning one-two punch of a message: how we can break under the weight of contemporary pressures on our attention; but also how we can choose to remake ourselves despite all of the noise.
Just after the first piece (and a standing ovation), Grammont took the stage. Before the second half, we would listen to a song together, an original English version of Samba e Amor by Brazilian singer Chico Buarque, which was released on his self-titled 1970 album. At the time that Buarque released the album, Brazil was six years into a military dictatorship that was focused on economic might (the “Brazilian Miracle”). Its leader, President General Emílio Garrastazu Médici, was known for violent suppression of political dissent. At a time when free speech was severely limited, Grammont explained, it fell on artists like Buarque to speak out in ways that only the veil of art and poetry might protect them. Dance, Grammont continued, offers a similar way to speak without speaking, to carry on that real political legacy and purpose that all art contains within it, however deeply buried it might be.
As the dancers prepared for the second half in the shadowy edges of the room, the storytelling guts behind Voyeur / Samba and Love – a veiled cry against the steady rise of authoritarian government and suppression of free speech – was clear, even before we finished listening to Grammont herself croon the final lyrics of Buarque’s chilling song.
If you’re wondering what to watch at the Fringe this year, count yourself lucky that you’re here while this piece is and get yourself a ticket.
Voyeur / Samba and Love is a part of the Edinburgh Fringe and playing at Assembly @ DanceBase, until 24 Aug (not Mon & Tue), 1pm. Get tickets here: https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/voyeur-samba-and-love