Edinburgh Fringe 2025 starts this week and there is a plethora of brilliant independent and freelance dance artists and makers from across the UK and beyond showcasing work throughout August. Dance shows at Edinburgh Fringe 2025 include the likes of Mark Bleakley’s Stepping in… Spilling out, Léa Tirabasso’s In the Bushes and Score by Isaiah Wilson.
In classic dance art journal-style, we are spotlighting artists at all stages of their careers (not just the big names and companies) who are showing work at The Fringe – and here are our picks below!
Stepping in… Spilling out by Mark Bleakley
12-17th Aug. 7.50pm (50mins)Stepping in… Spilling out: across your parent’s carpet, stepping into the cypher, stepping in solidarity, stepping with strangers in the club. Collaboration with French percussionist Rémy Gouffault, this work takes a walk along the personal history of Mark’s dance practice through the foundational act of stepping; the different people, communities, histories and politics that collide with Mark’s body through these movements. Beginning on an oversized drawing of his family home carpet, using movement, conversations, participation and music, Mark and Rémy guide you through layers of landscapes stepping through; parties, protests, rituals, mosh pits and gas clouds. Runs from 12-17th Aug at Assembly @ Dance Base. Get your tickets here.
In the bushes by Léa Tirabasso
Working in collaboration with six extraordinary performers, Tirabasso creates an intensely physical, visually rich, theatrical landscape for In the bushes and shapes it with her very distinctive choreography. In the bushes delves into Evolution Theory, the Accidental Species and the preposterous notion of human exceptionalism, simultaneously mocking the idea that we are anything special and celebrating our humanity with a ferocious and liberating joy. She plunges her audience into a surrealist world devoid of stigma and shame, playing with ideas around gaze and hiding places. Who and what do we watch? What do we do when we’re being watched? Where do we go when we hide – and what do we do there? In the bushes is at Summerhall from 13 to 25 August, book here.
The Genesis by Copenhagen Collective
17 world-class international artists from Denmark, Australia, Peru, Canada, UK, Uruguay, Chile, Portugal, USA, Germany, Ireland, France and Guinea unite to explore group strength, community, conflict, and the complex times we live in for a thrilling hour-long performance meshing heartfelt storytelling performance with jaw-dropping acrobatic feats and movement. From an atmospheric stage – paired with beautiful original sound by Leif Jordansson and ethereal lighting design that aims to transport spectators to another dimension – Copenhagen Collective acrobats stack, tumble, and spin through a vast emotional landscape into a world of cooperation and understanding where true strength begins to emerge. Runs at Assembly Hall: 1 – 25 August. Book here.
Score by Isaiah Wilson
A multi-genre meditation on humanity’s interventions with technology and nature – a strange and beautiful dance of computational code. Connected to Electric Muscle Stimulation (EMS) technology linked to a mini piano hidden backstage, multi-genre creative Isaiah Wilson creates an experimental dance-based show that sees three performers partake in a dystopian choreography outside of their direct cognitive and physical control. In a fictitious world that edges on the real, Score invites the audience into a strange world of wonder and morbid curiosity. Runs at Assembly @ Dance Base from 12 – 24 August 2025. Book here.
Inlet by Hani Dance
Inlet – an enigmatic contemporary dance work with compelling visuals and storytelling by German-Syrian choreographer Saeed Hani – explores the lasting imprint of boundaries, visible and invisible, on society and the human spirit. Through raw, emotionally resonant movement and stark simplicity, the performers embody separation, restriction, and the profound yearning for connection and freedom; inspired by the ancient legend of Rome’s founding, where a wall holds symbolic importance, and the myth of Romulus and Remus, where the creation of a wall ignites conflict and transformation. Blending visual art, immersive soundscapes, and intimate storytelling, Hani’s distinct choreographic language pushes the edges of contemporary performance – inviting audiences not just to watch, but to truly feel – combined with threads of influence from Hani’s own experience as a refugee. Runs at Assembly @ Dance Base: 1 – 23 August, book here.