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Iconic

Life is a thief,” pouts Alan Greig, emerging in the studio space clad in black vest, full skirt and voluminous trousers. Impish and imperious, he becomes Tennessee Williams in waspish mode even as he lies dying, or perhaps he's Blanche Dubois, looking to fill the void. Throughout this gorgeously unhinged performance, he inhabits several queer icons. Languid and yet toxic, he's a typically acerbic Joan Crawford, insisting through narrowed eyes that she retains some semblance of normality because of her tendency to clean her own house strutting and shimmying, he's Alison Goldfrapp, a modern day glam disco diva giving “Ooh La La.” Almost hacking up a furball, he transforms into the immortal Quentin Crisp, whose first priority when war broke out was to “find some henna.” Or Bette Davis, eyebrow arched, insisting that smoking one hundred cigarettes a day is because it's expected of her, inextricably linked to her image. These stories may or may not be apocryphal, but that's scarcely the point.

Performance

Alan Greig: “Within Reach”

Place

DanceBase, Edinburgh, Scotland, August 9, 2024

Words

Lorna Irvine

Alan Greig's “Within Reach” at DanceBase. Photograph courtesy of DanceBase

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The word “iconic” is lazily deployed these days in pop culture, almost to the point of ubiquity, and meaninglessness, but everyone he pays tribute to here, was and is the epitome of that word.These people changed the world, liberated generations from the tedium of the quotidian. With an endless pivot between glorious homage and catty pastiche, Alan Greig goes beyond camp, to its outer reaches in shadowy corners. His lyrical, lovely writing, often in rhyme, mirrors his balletic stretches, or Hollywood posturing. No pout, put down or sigh is replete without a ballroom arm stretching out, a twirl, a high kick, or sashay. The kids called the complex arm movements “punking” back in the day, Madonna appropriated it for “Vogue” now it's better known as waacking.

This is glamour teetering on its last legs, the Hollywood Dream with its pants pulled down and spanked, red raw. This is make-up flaking and congealed, a sick pastiche of what once was, the mask melting as bitter tears of isolation replace words of adulation. His movements are majestic, yet knowing. He's always playing with expectations, yet so disciplined and elegant. The trick is to make it all look effortless.

Alan Greig's “Within Reach” at DanceBase. Photograph courtesy of DanceBase

Greig’s work exists in that sweet spot where the champagne is corked, the hemlines frayed, and the red velvet curtain needs a bloody good scrub, but that only adds to the glamour. It reminded me of John Waters' assertion that queer culture was much more fun when everyone was in the closet.  His Kate Bush may be a “wow,” as he changes into a flowing red Pre-Raphaelite skirt and black veil, eyes wide and hands becoming claws, but she's singing a  karaoke version of “Running Up That Hill” with a broad Scottish accent, and those surely aren't the correct lyrics. His own relationship with these icons who shaped his life cannot help but leak out—such is his wonderfully crafted mischief.

But scratch the Bette Davis quips, bitchy Crisp asides, or Greig making various audience members complicit in his choreography, by squealing in their faces, chiding them on a red chaise lounge, or stroking their arms, and there's a far wider purpose here. Which is: these beauties weren't beauties for long. All is impermanence, all that flickers ends at the last reel. And no amount of Botox or Vaseline on the lens will ever paper over the cracks. We are, all of us, on borrowed time. But the best art is eternal. This is a rallying cry to individualism and outrageous behaviour. What a beautiful, witty and potent memento mori.

Lorna Irvine


Based in Glasgow, Lorna was delightfully corrupted by the work of Michael Clark in her early teens, and has never looked back. Passionate about dance, music, and theatre she writes regularly for the List, Across the Arts and Exeunt. She also wrote on dance, drama and whatever particular obsession she had that week for the Shimmy, the Skinny and TLG and has contributed to Mslexia, TYCI and the Vile Blog.

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