From dance to improv to huge heels

The politics of dancing will split the Fringe today.

French choreographers Loren Palmer and Khalid Benghrib, from experimental French dance troupe Cie Porte K/L, will share their dance secrets in "The Pedagogy Project".

"We've been talking to them for a couple of years about coming to the Dunedin Fringe," festival director Paul Smith said yesterday.

"So we're very excited about this one.

"They'll be talking about methodology, process, projects and experimental multimedia danceworks as well as giving hands-on workshops."

The choreographers will shine a light on past and present choreographic works which sit on the cutting edge of contemporary experimental dance.

An open lecture will be held at Allan Hall Theatre from 1pm to 2pm today, followed by workshops from 5.30pm to 6.30pm today, tomorrow and Friday in the Mary Hopewell Theatre.

A Sunday workshop will be held from 1pm to 2pm.

The pair will also conduct a master class for dancers with at least five years' experience from 7pm to 8pm today, tomorrow and Friday and from 2.30pm to 3.30pm on Sunday in the Mary Hopewell Theatre.

A public presentation of works-in-progress will then be held at the Mary Hopewell Theatre from 4pm to 5pm on Sunday.

Circus theatre performer Eve Gordon was strutting her stuff around the Octagon in 1m high heels yesterday.

"Walking in high heels is just like stilt-walking, really," she said.

The Burlesque As You Like It - Not a Family Show performer said the show would blow the bedcovers off the secrets of sex.

"It's an investigation of sexuality.

"It's about all those things that are fascinating to people, but that we don't talk about.

"It's a conceptually based show, talking about sexualised situations and how we navigate them; people's sexual preferences and how they go about dealing with those," she said.

"It's designed to be a blast. It's not serious.

"Burlesque is the best way to deliver something like this, because it started as political satire.

"So it's the perfect way to create something that's ballsy and pushes buttons, but is still sexy and titillating."

Despite her eye-catching red heels, Gordon revealed she does not have a shoe fetish herself.

"I only have one pair of sneakers, which I wear all the time.

"I grew up in Rotorua and you had to be ready to run at any moment."

Burlesque As You Like It - Not a Family Show is on at the Regent Theatre at 8.30pm on Friday and Saturday.

A gaggle of new comedians hits town today, with Justine Smith, Simon McKinney and the Comediettes all set to do their thing tonight.

Meanwhile, the Court Jesters from Christchurch present Scared Scriptless: Improv Deathmatch at the Fortune Theatre studio.

The Court Jesters group was established 20 years to create playful and daring improvisational theatre with no safety nets.

A play about a young Argentinian woman who leaves Buenos Aires for a new life in Auckland opens at the Globe Theatre tonight.

Alfonsina reveals the contradictions and paradoxes of the immigration experience, Brazilian director Pedro Ilgenfritz says.

"It is a poetic meditation on the conditions and hardship of the lower classes, friendship, loyalty, honesty and the desire to have better conditions of living."

The play follows the adventures and misfortunes of a young Argentinean cleaner who is facing the social, economic and cultural challenges of migrating to Auckland in search of a new life. Alfonsina features Andrea Carolina Ariel, Katie Burson and Genevieve Cohen and starts at 7pm.