Grupo Corpo review – the Brazil of Gilberto Gil and Umbanda in music, mood and motion

There are slimmer pickings than usual for dance in the Edinburgh international festival programme this year. With violinist Nicola Benedetti at the helm, it’s understandable her interests skew towards music, and this first, very enjoyable, dance show comes from a company who are intensely musical, Brazil’s Grupo Corpo .

The double bill by resident choreographer Rodrigo Pederneiras, whose brother Paulo founded the group in 1975, draws on African, Brazilian, ballet and contemporary influences. The first piece honours Gilberto Gil , created to celebrate the 80th birthday of the Brazilian musician and former minister of culture. Gil himself has created the soundtrack by re-conceptualising some of his own songs, fracturing their melodies – the title is Gil Refazendo, Gil Remaking. The dance is also remade from an earlier version, although less fractured, less obviously experimental. Sunny, and a bit samey.

If there’s a criticism of the evening, it’s that the momentum feels stuck at andante, “walking pace”, albeit with a mighty spring in its step. The dancers bounce off each syncopation as their feet match the complicated rhythms of the music, while arms and torsos swing with ease. They somehow meld precision with insouciant flow; loose-limbed, boneless movement with sharp, perfectly matched shapes. They really are fantastic dancers, and this is work that doesn’t ask you to follow plot or play detective for hidden meanings, just plunges you into mood and motion.

In the second piece, Gira, the cumulative power of repetition is more of a driving force, and there is more in the way of contrast and texture. Inspired by the Afro-Brazilian Umbanda religion, with its rituals of dancing and chanting to communicate with the orisha spirits, the performers sit around the stage covered by black cloaks, then suddenly materialise to dance dressed in long swirling white skirts. Music comes from São Paulo jazz trio Metá Metá, and its tonal shifts are reflected in the dance, which uses the power of the group, but also the more intense, complex dynamics of duets. Then, when you think you’ve got a handle on one thing, in comes a sultry saxophone, or an arm motif that looks like the 70s street style waacking. They are movers to marvel at.

• At Edinburgh Playhouse until 7 August

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