0:52:22 > 0:52:24This programme contains some strong language
0:52:24 > 0:52:28Welcome to Edinburgh, world's biggest arts festival. Tonight, George RR Martin,
0:52:28 > 0:52:30creator of the worldwide TV phenomenon Game Of Thrones.
0:52:30 > 0:52:35Professor Mary Beard on the jokes that tickled the ancient Romans.
0:52:35 > 0:52:37Priceless pots from Ming dynasty China...
0:52:39 > 0:52:42Strictly's Bruno Tonioli hotfoots his way around
0:52:42 > 0:52:45the festival's most dazzling dance shows,
0:52:45 > 0:52:48And music from Flamenco legend Paco Pena.
0:52:51 > 0:52:55The Edinburgh Festival was founded in the aftermath of World War II,
0:52:55 > 0:52:58with the aim of providing a platform for the flowering
0:52:58 > 0:53:01of the human spirit through the power of the arts.
0:53:01 > 0:53:05This year's event features a number of artistic responses to conflict,
0:53:05 > 0:53:09from the Trojan War to the recent military action in Afghanistan and Iraq.
0:53:09 > 0:53:12EXPLOSIONS
0:53:12 > 0:53:15Across the centuries, artists, writers and poets have
0:53:15 > 0:53:19produced some of their most powerful work in direct response to warfare.
0:53:22 > 0:53:26War is a major theme at this year's Edinburgh Festival.
0:53:26 > 0:53:31Halt! LAUGHTER
0:53:31 > 0:53:33At the Traverse,
0:53:33 > 0:53:37Valentijn Dhaenens' SmallWar is a multi-media exploration
0:53:37 > 0:53:41of the horrors of war set in a field hospital just behind the front line.
0:53:41 > 0:53:45Fighting can be a source of joy.
0:53:46 > 0:53:50For some, perhaps, even the greatest joy of all. Hmm?
0:53:51 > 0:53:58Why else choose, voluntarily, at the risk of dying, to go into war?
0:54:00 > 0:54:01To fight, to kill...?
0:54:01 > 0:54:06Dhaenens' production is a technically complex one-man show.
0:54:06 > 0:54:10He uses projections and looping techniques to explore the experiences of a number
0:54:10 > 0:54:13of characters, including a nurse and a wounded soldier.
0:54:13 > 0:54:16When you started to construct this piece, where did you start?
0:54:16 > 0:54:19Did you start with history books? Letters, photographs?
0:54:19 > 0:54:22Over the course of a year, I only read about war.
0:54:22 > 0:54:27I stressed on the First World War but I couldn't resist reading about
0:54:27 > 0:54:31the Second World War, especially the psychology thing of war.
0:54:31 > 0:54:34I think that's a big thing I wanted to put in.
0:54:34 > 0:54:37Did you then lift from the interviews into dialogue,
0:54:37 > 0:54:40or is your dialogue completely constructed by you?
0:54:41 > 0:54:45That's like a mixture. I guess what I always do, it's like sampling.
0:54:45 > 0:54:48You take bits, and I pick a mother from a letter
0:54:48 > 0:54:51and I pick a son of another letter and I put them together
0:54:51 > 0:54:53and let them have a dialogue.
0:54:53 > 0:54:56'When it's my turn, will you want me to go?
0:54:56 > 0:54:58'Any man would give his son for democracy.
0:54:58 > 0:55:03'I won't be here to stop you, that's for sure.'
0:55:03 > 0:55:06I really wanted to stress on the people who get shell-shock,
0:55:06 > 0:55:09who don't know what to do any more.
0:55:09 > 0:55:12They might only have an explosion of anger, then the collapse again.
0:55:12 > 0:55:17My piece has a very slow pace and I wanted to make something very
0:55:17 > 0:55:21opposite to all the other ways we get war into our lives.
0:55:21 > 0:55:26MELANCHOLY MUSIC
0:55:26 > 0:55:30It's not just World War I that has been covered at this year's festival.
0:55:30 > 0:55:33More recent conflicts, such as the war in Afghanistan,
0:55:33 > 0:55:35have also inspired work.
0:55:38 > 0:55:42The play, Britannia Waves The Rules deals with the psychological
0:55:42 > 0:55:45consequences of the Afghan war on young combatants.
0:55:47 > 0:55:49It tells the story of Carl Jackson,
0:55:49 > 0:55:53an unemployed man from Blackpool who longs to leave his home town.
0:55:55 > 0:55:57Will you work? Why won't you work?
0:55:57 > 0:55:59You've got to get a job and behave.
0:55:59 > 0:56:02But a job is a wage and a wage is a cage in a town like mine.
0:56:04 > 0:56:07He feels like there's nowhere to go and nothing to do, which is
0:56:07 > 0:56:09a line that runs throughout the play.
0:56:09 > 0:56:11He decides to join the Army, he thinks it's a way out of Blackpool,
0:56:11 > 0:56:13he thinks it's a way to see the world.
0:56:13 > 0:56:15And here's to the heights,
0:56:15 > 0:56:18to the illustrious sights of foreign excitement and glory!
0:56:18 > 0:56:21So, goodbye, bleak British backwater boredom.
0:56:21 > 0:56:24And hello to being the best.
0:56:24 > 0:56:27To guns and drums and fighting fitness.
0:56:27 > 0:56:29To getting ahead of the rest.
0:56:30 > 0:56:35The shock of war takes a grip of Carl after his colleague is killed in action.
0:56:38 > 0:56:42As a result, he develops post-traumatic stress disorder.
0:56:42 > 0:56:46There's still a great need to understand war, particularly
0:56:46 > 0:56:47Iraq, Afghanistan.
0:56:47 > 0:56:50Is it something that your generation talk about,
0:56:50 > 0:56:52the battles that Britain is fighting?
0:56:52 > 0:56:55I think it is something that has been almost pushed down...
0:56:55 > 0:56:58the order of things in the news, which is something that gets to
0:56:58 > 0:57:02me, and it's something that the writer said inspired him to write this play.
0:57:02 > 0:57:04When it first started, it was the first thing on the news.
0:57:04 > 0:57:06This is what is going on in Afghanistan today.
0:57:06 > 0:57:08This is what is going on in Iraq.
0:57:08 > 0:57:11And slowly and slowly, things would start to go ahead of that,
0:57:11 > 0:57:13and that was one of the things that inspired him
0:57:13 > 0:57:15because he felt like it was getting forgotten about.
0:57:15 > 0:57:19I want to stop. You can't stop. It doesn't stop.
0:57:19 > 0:57:21It doesn't end until it's forced to stop.
0:57:21 > 0:57:24We fight, we win, we fight some more. It doesn't stop!
0:57:24 > 0:57:27Since it's been on, have there been people in the audience
0:57:27 > 0:57:29who've talked to you about their experiences?
0:57:29 > 0:57:30Yeah, we had a guy and he just came up to me
0:57:30 > 0:57:34and said, I was in the forces. He said, I knew people who ended up like that.
0:57:34 > 0:57:38He said it was so real and he said I couldn't watch some of it.
0:57:38 > 0:57:41And he said... Sort of had this conversation with me,
0:57:41 > 0:57:44and I turned to him and I said, "That's why I do this job."
0:57:46 > 0:57:49The Iraq War has also affected the poet Brian Turner,
0:57:49 > 0:57:52who served as a sergeant there in the US Army.
0:57:54 > 0:57:58His memoir, My Life As A Foreign Country, was partly written
0:57:58 > 0:58:00whilst serving in Iraq.
0:58:00 > 0:58:03Looking back now, I can see that the process of writing created
0:58:03 > 0:58:06a space that was larger than the role I was.
0:58:06 > 0:58:09I was Sergeant Turner when I was there.
0:58:09 > 0:58:13And Sergeant Turner is too small of an imaginative space for one person to live in.
0:58:13 > 0:58:16And so the notebooks were a space for me to say
0:58:16 > 0:58:18and to use language I couldn't use in everyday life.
0:58:18 > 0:58:21"When I leave the tent, tens of thousands,
0:58:21 > 0:58:25"perhaps hundreds of thousands, perhaps even millions of dead
0:58:25 > 0:58:27"people will begin leaving their tent and following us home.
0:58:27 > 0:58:31"And the wounded and the maimed and the traumatised
0:58:31 > 0:58:34"and the frightened and the shattered and the shivering
0:58:34 > 0:58:38"and the bruised and the broken and the disfigured.
0:58:38 > 0:58:42"The ruined world will call its home inside of me."
0:58:45 > 0:58:49Writing the book was a way of coming to terms with war for Turner,
0:58:49 > 0:58:52but others are not so fortunate.
0:58:52 > 0:58:54Veterans have come back home from different wars
0:58:54 > 0:58:56and they carry baggage home with them.
0:58:56 > 0:58:58It's something you have to live with the rest of your life.
0:58:58 > 0:59:01And so that's true with veterans in previous wars,
0:59:01 > 0:59:07um, they may have adjusted in different ways, maybe through alcohol.
0:59:07 > 0:59:10Maybe now it's through methamphetamines or marijuana or something.
0:59:10 > 0:59:16I met a veteran recently who, when I asked him about what therapy he was getting, he just tapped
0:59:16 > 0:59:18the side of his leg and you could hear the pills jangling.
0:59:18 > 0:59:22And he said, "This is therapy. This is the therapy they're giving me."
0:59:25 > 0:59:28Since 2002, the artists kennardphillips have been
0:59:28 > 0:59:32collaborating to produce works in response to the Iraq War.
0:59:35 > 0:59:37They deal predominantly with photomontage,
0:59:37 > 0:59:41and their most famous image is this one of Tony Blair.
0:59:41 > 0:59:44It's had a life of its own amongst campaigners,
0:59:44 > 0:59:45but also amongst the press.
0:59:45 > 0:59:48It's been bought by the Scottish National Portrait Gallery
0:59:48 > 0:59:50as the official portrait of Blair.
0:59:50 > 0:59:52As part of their show Demo Talk,
0:59:52 > 0:59:55they create a piece of live video art.
0:59:56 > 0:59:59So, is this work about politics or about art?
0:59:59 > 1:00:02It's art talking about politics.
1:00:02 > 1:00:04The art in it is very important to us, it is
1:00:04 > 1:00:08as important as it would be if we were painting apples, you know?
1:00:08 > 1:00:11It's just that we are... Our subject is
1:00:11 > 1:00:14the everyday life that's happening around the world.
1:00:14 > 1:00:17Is the message that all war is bad?
1:00:17 > 1:00:18Well, all war IS bad.
1:00:18 > 1:00:21We're not putting strap lines on it, it's not propaganda.
1:00:21 > 1:00:25We're not directing an audience's thinking.
1:00:25 > 1:00:28And our subject matter, it is always direct politics.
1:00:28 > 1:00:31We are using the symbolism of direct politics as we're using
1:00:31 > 1:00:35heads of state, or the Financial Times as materials.
1:00:35 > 1:00:38There is no...set message.
1:00:38 > 1:00:41Coming into this space, what the audience watching television
1:00:41 > 1:00:43will not be able to understand is the kind of smell of it.
1:00:43 > 1:00:46The smell of burning, the smell of decay.
1:00:46 > 1:00:48We made these burnt boards.
1:00:48 > 1:00:51They're like pin boards, and burnt them outside our studio.
1:00:51 > 1:00:54And then constructed the room out of the various boards.
1:00:54 > 1:00:58And the shapes of them are totally based on what the burn did,
1:00:58 > 1:01:01- we didn't actually do anything to them.- Sculpt them.
1:01:07 > 1:01:12So why is war such a perennial inspiration for creative minds?
1:01:13 > 1:01:16I think most artists have a preoccupation with the most
1:01:16 > 1:01:18extreme things of our lives.
1:01:18 > 1:01:21Everyone is attracted to war because it's...
1:01:21 > 1:01:25It put something naked of us being human.
1:01:25 > 1:01:29There are some people who will be seduced by the beauty that
1:01:29 > 1:01:31often shows up in the work.
1:01:31 > 1:01:34And that's a really difficult, um, thing for an artist to do because
1:01:34 > 1:01:37it makes me wonder whether or not I should put work out into the world.
1:01:39 > 1:01:45Art is for humanity, it's creativity. In itself it is a vital thing.
1:01:45 > 1:01:47And then if you feel like that as an artist, then you want to make
1:01:47 > 1:01:51work about something that is killing people rather than living.
1:01:56 > 1:01:58Early this year, trams finally arrived on the streets of
1:01:58 > 1:02:02Edinburgh after a very long and controversial construction project.
1:02:02 > 1:02:04They have been ferrying tourists and commuters
1:02:04 > 1:02:07alike on the journey between the airport and the city centre,
1:02:07 > 1:02:11and we've been treating passengers to some very special performances.
1:02:11 > 1:02:13First, here's Simon Munnery.
1:02:17 > 1:02:19BELL RINGS
1:02:19 > 1:02:23I note the lice have finally conquered my eyebrows.
1:02:23 > 1:02:26More fool them, it's only a matter of time before the hairline
1:02:26 > 1:02:28recedes and they're left stranded.
1:02:28 > 1:02:31And then what? Inbreeding, infighting?
1:02:31 > 1:02:32Possibly at the same time.
1:02:32 > 1:02:36But so is the vicious wars between the two rival colonies,
1:02:36 > 1:02:39until, at last, with both follicular forests deluded,
1:02:39 > 1:02:41they'll be forced to make a dash for it. But where?
1:02:41 > 1:02:46South, along the wind battered bridge of the nose, perhaps to the seeming safety of the nostril,
1:02:46 > 1:02:49only to be blown to kingdom come by the next volcanic sneeze?
1:02:49 > 1:02:51Or east, towards the ear?
1:02:51 > 1:02:54Hoping to navigate its infinite complexity without map
1:02:54 > 1:02:59or compass, only to find a few dried tufts in a quagmire of wax.
1:02:59 > 1:03:03And then, with all options exhausted, the lice will be forced back.
1:03:03 > 1:03:06Back across the ever-widening desert of the void.
1:03:06 > 1:03:07That's when I'll get them.
1:03:09 > 1:03:10Thank you.
1:03:14 > 1:03:17Simon Munnery Sings Soren Kierkegaard at The Stand,
1:03:17 > 1:03:19here in Edinburgh, until next week.
1:03:19 > 1:03:21Now if you have missed out on the global phenomena that is
1:03:21 > 1:03:24Game Of Thrones, where on earth have you been?
1:03:24 > 1:03:27The creator of the hugely popular fantasy series
1:03:27 > 1:03:30and the writer of the books that spawned it, George RR Martin,
1:03:30 > 1:03:33has been appearing at the Edinburgh Book Festival.
1:03:33 > 1:03:36Thrones aficionado Grace Dent jumped at the chance to meet him.
1:03:39 > 1:03:43This city always feels like a fantasy kingdom.
1:03:43 > 1:03:47A Gothic film set where you might expect to meet a knight, a wench,
1:03:47 > 1:03:50or perhaps even a dragon at any moment.
1:03:51 > 1:03:54But now, more so than ever before...
1:03:55 > 1:03:59..because this year Game Of Thrones has come to town.
1:04:03 > 1:04:08George RR Martin's Song Of Ice and Fire books have sold 15 million copies worldwide.
1:04:11 > 1:04:14And the subsequent TV series, Game Of Thrones,
1:04:14 > 1:04:17has become HBO's most popular show of all time.
1:04:20 > 1:04:24The series is set in a fantasy world, but one in which magic is kept
1:04:24 > 1:04:28to a minimum and political intrigue takes centre stage.
1:04:30 > 1:04:35It's not about elves or wizards, it's about people, politics and war.
1:04:37 > 1:04:40And sex, of course. And violence.
1:04:40 > 1:04:42And sex and more violence.
1:04:42 > 1:04:44And death.
1:04:44 > 1:04:48In my opinion, this is the greatest thing on television today
1:04:48 > 1:04:52and I'm in Edinburgh to meet the man behind it all.
1:04:52 > 1:04:58Does Scotland and its stories, does that influence your work at all?
1:04:59 > 1:05:02Well, if by influence you mean have I pillaged Scottish
1:05:02 > 1:05:06history for various scenes in Song Of Ice and Fire,
1:05:06 > 1:05:07yes, definitely.
1:05:07 > 1:05:12It was my 1981 visit to Hadrian's Wall that inspired my own wall.
1:05:12 > 1:05:17Scottish history is wonderfully baroque and bloody and twisted
1:05:17 > 1:05:21and strange, and there are many terrific incidents in it.
1:05:21 > 1:05:23These books, these tales,
1:05:23 > 1:05:27they've gone beyond the traditional fantasy audience.
1:05:27 > 1:05:31They've grabbed a whole new... genre of people, me included.
1:05:31 > 1:05:34- What can you... Can you pinpoint how you have done that?- No!
1:05:35 > 1:05:38I have no idea, but I am very glad.
1:05:38 > 1:05:42But it's been a very strange ride here.
1:05:42 > 1:05:45I think in part because of the TV series,
1:05:45 > 1:05:47which has been enormously popular.
1:05:47 > 1:05:48It's just one of those things
1:05:48 > 1:05:51that occasionally happens when lightning flashes
1:05:51 > 1:05:55down from the sky and something just becomes part of the culture.
1:05:55 > 1:06:02British audiences can sometimes be slightly shocked at the sexual content of Game Of Thrones.
1:06:02 > 1:06:06You get some people who're kind of clutching at the pearls, they're shocked.
1:06:06 > 1:06:08HE LAUGHS
1:06:08 > 1:06:13- How do you feel about complaints about sex?- Um...
1:06:14 > 1:06:17You know, you can always change the channel.
1:06:17 > 1:06:21Sexuality is an important part of human life and part of all of our
1:06:21 > 1:06:24lives and part of the lives of all of the people through history.
1:06:24 > 1:06:28So I think leaving it out would be ridiculous.
1:06:28 > 1:06:31Some of Thrones' most familiar faces have been popping up
1:06:31 > 1:06:35across Edinburgh. Dame Diana Rigg is staging a one-woman show.
1:06:35 > 1:06:37It's a rare enough thing...
1:06:37 > 1:06:40a man who lives up to his reputation.
1:06:42 > 1:06:43Leave her face!
1:06:45 > 1:06:46I like her pretty.
1:06:46 > 1:06:49And Jack Gleeson, otherwise known as King Joffrey,
1:06:49 > 1:06:53one of the greatest baddies in TV history, is also in town,
1:06:53 > 1:06:56performing with his group Bears In Space.
1:06:56 > 1:06:59Hey, you know, I will have whatever he's having. But make it a double.
1:06:59 > 1:07:00A double double?!
1:07:00 > 1:07:03Sounds like you have something you want to forget, stranger. Twice.
1:07:03 > 1:07:06LAUGHTER
1:07:06 > 1:07:10There's, in the group, there are faces that audiences will never
1:07:10 > 1:07:13have seen before and there are faces that are very recognisable.
1:07:13 > 1:07:16Is that a help or a hindrance when selling tickets?
1:07:16 > 1:07:19We're definitely doing it in the right way cos...
1:07:19 > 1:07:21- The way we want to do it. - The way we want to do it, yeah.
1:07:22 > 1:07:26Because I think if we push that side of things,
1:07:26 > 1:07:27we'd sell out every night
1:07:27 > 1:07:28and it wouldn't be a problem.
1:07:28 > 1:07:33But I think we're of the opinion that it might cheapen the show
1:07:33 > 1:07:35somewhat, just to kind of cheaply...
1:07:37 > 1:07:41- ..associate the show with Game Of Thrones, or whatever.- Yeah.
1:07:41 > 1:07:44# You've got a new favourite show
1:07:44 > 1:07:46# It's called Game Of Thrones...! #
1:07:46 > 1:07:50But some performers are happy to jump on the Game Of Thrones bandwagon.
1:07:50 > 1:07:53# Bum-bum-ba-ra-rum-pom ba-ra-rum-pom, ba-ra-rum-pom
1:07:53 > 1:07:56- # Game of Thrones!- Game of Thrones. # - You so nailed it!
1:07:56 > 1:07:58You nailed it, you guys! Get off stage.
1:07:58 > 1:08:02There's a Game of Thrones The Musical called Winter Is Coming.
1:08:02 > 1:08:05- HE LAUGHS There is? I didn't know that. - Well, there is.
1:08:05 > 1:08:08How do you feel about that, would you like me to get you tickets?
1:08:08 > 1:08:11- THEY LAUGH - Do you want to see this?
1:08:11 > 1:08:15I feel a little shocked about that because I really own
1:08:15 > 1:08:18the rights to, er... live performances of the material.
1:08:18 > 1:08:22So I think there is some copyright infringement going on here!
1:08:22 > 1:08:26- They haven't contacted you about it? - No, this is the first I've heard of it.
1:08:26 > 1:08:29You're breaking a hot news story here, Grace. HE LAUGHS
1:08:29 > 1:08:34I mean, apart from the copyright issue, do you love this, or do you think, "That's my baby"?
1:08:34 > 1:08:36The ones that really boggle me,
1:08:36 > 1:08:40frankly, are not the parodies of the show or anything having to do
1:08:40 > 1:08:44with the show, but the ones that are about me personally.
1:08:44 > 1:08:47You know, at the San Diego Comic-Con there was
1:08:47 > 1:08:51one guy selling a George RR Martin doll, which was pretty...freaky.
1:08:52 > 1:08:53I'm not sure how I feel about that.
1:08:53 > 1:08:57I think some of my more belligerent fans are probably using it for voodoo purposes.
1:09:01 > 1:09:03Hi, how are you?
1:09:03 > 1:09:05Although some fans are getting frustrated
1:09:05 > 1:09:07waiting for the next instalment in the series.
1:09:07 > 1:09:09George, in town for the book festival,
1:09:09 > 1:09:13inspires huge devotion in his followers.
1:09:13 > 1:09:16I can't quite believe that he's like a few hundred metres
1:09:16 > 1:09:19from wherever we are right now. It is pretty special.
1:09:19 > 1:09:21You know, he is such a fantastic weaver of a tale.
1:09:21 > 1:09:24People just want to know what happens next, I guess.
1:09:24 > 1:09:26Why is he wasting time here?
1:09:26 > 1:09:28He should be at home frantically writing!
1:09:29 > 1:09:37Are you comfortable with being so enormously famous and in demand?
1:09:37 > 1:09:40I'm trying to find a word that isn't inner peace.
1:09:40 > 1:09:42Actually, no. No, I haven't.
1:09:42 > 1:09:46We came to the Fringe Festival, I think, just three or four years ago.
1:09:46 > 1:09:50And one or two people recognised me the whole week that we were here.
1:09:50 > 1:09:55Now I walk the streets and three or four people recognise me every block.
1:09:56 > 1:09:59And it's, it's transformed my life...
1:10:01 > 1:10:03..in ways that I'm not entirely comfortable with.
1:10:03 > 1:10:06What message do you have for people who say, "Why is he sitting
1:10:06 > 1:10:10"down here talking to Grace Dent when he should be writing the next book?"
1:10:10 > 1:10:15HE CHUCKLES Yeah, well... I get that no matter what I do.
1:10:15 > 1:10:20"Why is he watching football?" "Why is he eating dinner?"
1:10:20 > 1:10:21"Why is he doing any of that stuff?"
1:10:25 > 1:10:27You know, you have to live your life too.
1:10:35 > 1:10:41And you can hear more from George RR Martin online at...
1:10:41 > 1:10:44Now they do say that the old jokes are the best,
1:10:44 > 1:10:46but could that be truer than you think?
1:10:46 > 1:10:50Professor Mary Beard is coming to Edinburgh next week to give a talk on the kind of jokes
1:10:50 > 1:10:52that tickled the Romans.
1:10:52 > 1:10:54But are we really cackling at the same old jokes
1:10:54 > 1:10:56they cackled at centuries ago?
1:10:56 > 1:10:59And has our sense of humour really not changed very much?
1:10:59 > 1:11:00Ably assisted by Simon Callow,
1:11:00 > 1:11:03Mary went back in time to find out.
1:11:03 > 1:11:06There's no place like Rome. There's no place like Rome.
1:11:15 > 1:11:17Three men embark on a journey together -
1:11:17 > 1:11:21an absent-minded professor, a bald man and a barber.
1:11:21 > 1:11:25They stop overnight. So in case someone nicks their luggage, they decide that
1:11:25 > 1:11:28one of them has to stay awake all night.
1:11:28 > 1:11:29The barber is chosen.
1:11:29 > 1:11:31Towards morning he gets bored,
1:11:31 > 1:11:34so he shaves the absent-minded professor's head.
1:11:34 > 1:11:36The absent-minded professor wakes up.
1:11:36 > 1:11:39He says, "You idiot, you've woken up the wrong man."
1:11:39 > 1:11:41LAUGHTER
1:11:42 > 1:11:46That's an ancient Roman joke getting on for 2,000 years old.
1:11:46 > 1:11:49Funny or not? I'm not sure.
1:11:49 > 1:11:54But it certainly hits on one of the Romans' favourite joking targets -
1:11:54 > 1:11:56bald men.
1:11:56 > 1:11:59Not that they laughed at everything, mind you.
1:11:59 > 1:12:03Blindness, that was definitely off limits.
1:12:03 > 1:12:07Not so very different from us, I guess.
1:12:07 > 1:12:09Wheelchair users, that's a no-no.
1:12:10 > 1:12:15But there still are all kinds of human difference that we
1:12:15 > 1:12:19think it's perfectly OK, for some reason, to crack a gag at.
1:12:19 > 1:12:22Genetically, there is no difference between somebody
1:12:22 > 1:12:24Irish, English, Scottish,
1:12:24 > 1:12:26possibly Welsh... There's nothing.
1:12:26 > 1:12:28LAUGHTER
1:12:28 > 1:12:30The barber, the bald man and the professor joke
1:12:30 > 1:12:33comes from an ancient Roman joke book.
1:12:33 > 1:12:39260 gags that take us right to the heart of Roman laughter.
1:12:39 > 1:12:44There are some distinctive Roman themes like eunuchs or slaves.
1:12:44 > 1:12:49Chap goes up to another guy and he says to him, "Hey, that slave you sold me died."
1:12:49 > 1:12:52"That's funny," the other guy says, "he never did that when I owned him."
1:12:52 > 1:12:56Which I think must be the origin of the Monty Python dead parrot sketch.
1:12:57 > 1:13:00There is some familiar ethnic-style jokes too,
1:13:00 > 1:13:05not against Irishmen or Belgians, but against the unfortunate
1:13:05 > 1:13:09and very stupid people of the city of Abdera.
1:13:09 > 1:13:13A man from Abdera sees a champion runner being crucified.
1:13:13 > 1:13:15"My," he says, "he's really flying now."
1:13:16 > 1:13:20Crucifixion jokes don't tend to be our cup of tea,
1:13:20 > 1:13:25but modern stand-up still thrives on bad taste.
1:13:25 > 1:13:26Hi, lovely to see you.
1:13:26 > 1:13:29- Give us a cheer if you're drinking. - SPORADIC CHEERING
1:13:29 > 1:13:31OK, about three people. I thought you were going to be my people,
1:13:31 > 1:13:35I need you to know because I've had three glasses of this already.
1:13:35 > 1:13:37But the baby's loving it.
1:13:37 > 1:13:41- Relax, I'm not keeping it. - LAUGHTER
1:13:41 > 1:13:44Laughter isn't just fun, it can be very nasty, too.
1:13:44 > 1:13:51Bad emperors loved nothing more than humiliating their dinner guests with practical jokes.
1:13:51 > 1:13:55In fact, the main claim to fame of the Emperor Elagabalus
1:13:55 > 1:13:59in the third century AD, was that he invented the whoopee cushion.
1:13:59 > 1:14:00PHRRT!
1:14:00 > 1:14:03There was sheer sadism too.
1:14:03 > 1:14:06"Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha," laughs the Emperor Caligula.
1:14:06 > 1:14:09The two men reclining on either side of him ask him what's the joke.
1:14:09 > 1:14:12He says, "Oh, only the idea that I have just to click my fingers
1:14:12 > 1:14:14"and I can have both your heads off.
1:14:14 > 1:14:16"I find that funny. Ha-ha."
1:14:16 > 1:14:18Very funny(!)
1:14:18 > 1:14:23But the ordinary Romans used laughter against those in power too.
1:14:23 > 1:14:28Everybody, it seems, was having to have a crack at Julius Caesar's bald patch.
1:14:28 > 1:14:31Just like we lampoon our own politicians, I guess.
1:14:31 > 1:14:35Who thinks that Michael Gove is the kind of man whose favourite
1:14:35 > 1:14:39underpants are woven from Margaret Thatcher's chest hair?
1:14:39 > 1:14:42There was a popular strand of ancient satire, too.
1:14:42 > 1:14:46The best-known satirist in Rome was the poet Juvenal who
1:14:46 > 1:14:48lived around 100 AD.
1:14:48 > 1:14:51He was the original grumpy old man,
1:14:51 > 1:14:56moaning about the modern world, about those immigrants who wouldn't learn Latin,
1:14:56 > 1:15:00about women who were getting above themselves, and about how impossible
1:15:00 > 1:15:07it was to live in a busy, noisy, filthy, traffic-jammed city like Rome.
1:15:07 > 1:15:14If anyone laughed at Juvenal, it must've been his sheer grumpiness that set them off.
1:15:14 > 1:15:16There's things you can't do when you've got a cardigan
1:15:16 > 1:15:18and are a balding man. I don't know...
1:15:18 > 1:15:19I've only got five minutes,
1:15:19 > 1:15:21I'm wondering whether to be kind of angry or happy.
1:15:21 > 1:15:24Cos they're the only two things I can do now. I've realised that.
1:15:24 > 1:15:28Someone once said to me, "Sometimes you're a little bit miserable," "I said, no, I'm fucking not."
1:15:28 > 1:15:31Some Roman jokes really are very hard to understand
1:15:31 > 1:15:34and some, I bet, can't ever have been very funny.
1:15:34 > 1:15:38I mean, in every culture there are more bad jokes than good ones.
1:15:38 > 1:15:41But, actually, though we don't often realise it, we are still
1:15:41 > 1:15:44telling some Roman gags.
1:15:44 > 1:15:48My favourite example comes from an unlikely source,
1:15:48 > 1:15:50that is Enoch Powell.
1:15:50 > 1:15:54Enoch Powell always used to have his hair cut by the resident House of Commons barber,
1:15:54 > 1:15:56who was a chatty type, who liked to tell politicians
1:15:56 > 1:15:59what was wrong with the world and what they should do about it.
1:15:59 > 1:16:01One day, Powell walked in and the barber said to him,
1:16:01 > 1:16:04"How would you like your hair cut, sir?"
1:16:04 > 1:16:05"In silence," Powell replied.
1:16:07 > 1:16:12Even people who don't like Powell's politics have to admit that
1:16:12 > 1:16:15that was a pretty neat joke.
1:16:15 > 1:16:20What they don't realise is that it came straight from the Roman joke book.
1:16:20 > 1:16:23Powell, of course, was a learned classicist
1:16:23 > 1:16:26and he knew that the old ones are the best.
1:16:26 > 1:16:30"Gavin, Gavin, are you a fan of pastiche?"
1:16:30 > 1:16:32"I say, "Well, I prefer
1:16:32 > 1:16:35- "sausage rolls. And I..." - LAUGHTER
1:16:35 > 1:16:37Laughter is a funny thing.
1:16:37 > 1:16:39Try telling a joke in France
1:16:39 > 1:16:43and you'll think it doesn't even travel across the Channel.
1:16:43 > 1:16:47But, as Enoch Powell's joke with the barber shows,
1:16:47 > 1:16:50in some ways it hasn't changed a bit.
1:16:50 > 1:16:52Not in 2,000 years.
1:16:54 > 1:16:59Mary Beard will be talking more about Roman comedy at the Assembly Rooms next Saturday
1:16:59 > 1:17:02and her book Laughter In Ancient Rome is out now.
1:17:02 > 1:17:04Simon Callow is at Assembly for another week.
1:17:04 > 1:17:07Every year in Edinburgh there are shows which aim to shatter
1:17:07 > 1:17:11stereotypes about sexuality and gender, often through burlesque and cabaret.
1:17:11 > 1:17:14This year, though, the Fringe is offering something more, with a
1:17:14 > 1:17:19range of performances examining the blurred lines of gender identities.
1:17:19 > 1:17:22Psychotherapist Philippa Perry went to talk about artists and writers
1:17:22 > 1:17:24who are pushing the envelope.
1:17:30 > 1:17:3415 years ago when the Lady Boys Of Bangkok first came to Edinburgh,
1:17:34 > 1:17:37they caused quite a stir.
1:17:37 > 1:17:41These days, Fringe-goers expect a little bit more subtlety
1:17:41 > 1:17:44and nuance when it comes to exploring gender identity.
1:17:48 > 1:17:52Cross dressing and stripping on the Fringe may come as no surprise.
1:17:52 > 1:17:54But feminist lap dancing,
1:17:54 > 1:17:57art that documents the story of a couple who had surgery to
1:17:57 > 1:18:00merge their genders, and men speaking women's
1:18:00 > 1:18:05stories of everyday sexism and even rape, takes things to another level.
1:18:05 > 1:18:10I met a guy recently and he was taking my clothes off in my kitchen.
1:18:10 > 1:18:13He saw my armpits and there was this sort of...
1:18:13 > 1:18:17- This sort of moment of surprise. - Eugh!
1:18:17 > 1:18:20In a world where a boxing promoter can come out about her gender
1:18:20 > 1:18:23realignment surgery and apparently there's a male contemporary
1:18:23 > 1:18:27artist who frequently wears dresses in public,
1:18:27 > 1:18:33I hope we are becoming more used to the idea of fluidity in gender.
1:18:33 > 1:18:36It just so happens that I am married to the aforementioned
1:18:36 > 1:18:40contemporary artist with unorthodox sartorial taste.
1:18:40 > 1:18:43Personally, I have always felt comfortable in my own gender,
1:18:43 > 1:18:46but that is not the case for everyone.
1:18:46 > 1:18:50Many feel pushed into fixed cultural identities and the exploration
1:18:50 > 1:18:53of that territory is fertile ground for the arts.
1:18:54 > 1:18:57BOTH: It's easy to compare myself to Amy.
1:19:00 > 1:19:04I mean, I don't like to feel jealous or competitive,
1:19:04 > 1:19:08but I guess it's a natural element of our relationship.
1:19:09 > 1:19:11Amy and Rosana Cade are sisters.
1:19:11 > 1:19:15In their own words, one a lesbian, the other a sex worker.
1:19:15 > 1:19:21The show is a kind of exploration of female sexuality.
1:19:21 > 1:19:23All sexuality in general,
1:19:23 > 1:19:27but very much told through our own autobiographies.
1:19:27 > 1:19:31We are looking at our relationship as sisters and as two women with,
1:19:31 > 1:19:34perhaps on paper, quite different gender identities.
1:19:38 > 1:19:40You describe this as a feminist show.
1:19:40 > 1:19:43Could you tell me why it's a feminist show?
1:19:44 > 1:19:46I spent, over the last 10 years,
1:19:46 > 1:19:48working in various different parts of the sex industry
1:19:48 > 1:19:53and kind of exploring what I think it is to be a feminist
1:19:53 > 1:19:56in that area, and exploring my own sexuality.
1:19:57 > 1:20:01I am painfully aware of how many people are forced into the sex
1:20:01 > 1:20:05industry, and for them it is not a choice but sexual slavery.
1:20:05 > 1:20:09However, this is not the way that I and many other people out there
1:20:09 > 1:20:12encounter the profession of sex work.
1:20:12 > 1:20:15From me, feminism is about...
1:20:15 > 1:20:18more than just equality,
1:20:18 > 1:20:24it's about people feeling free to express themselves
1:20:24 > 1:20:27and their gender in whatever way is right for them
1:20:27 > 1:20:30and to move away from kind of binary structures about a man
1:20:30 > 1:20:31is like this, and a woman is like this.
1:20:31 > 1:20:34So it encapsulates all human beings.
1:20:36 > 1:20:40Within the show that's something that we are exploring, is
1:20:40 > 1:20:43the choices that we make and how free we are to make those choices.
1:20:43 > 1:20:47And I feel like we represent two people who are saying,
1:20:47 > 1:20:51I am choosing this identity or this way of being that some people
1:20:51 > 1:20:56might class as outside of what is normal or acceptable,
1:20:56 > 1:20:58but for us, we're owning those choices.
1:21:01 > 1:21:04From sisters exploring their sexuality,
1:21:04 > 1:21:09to men going beyond the usual constraints of what is considered masculine.
1:21:09 > 1:21:11MUSIC: "Wuthering Heights" by Kate Bush
1:21:11 > 1:21:15# He told me I was going to lose the fight
1:21:15 > 1:21:20# Leave behind my Wuthering Wuthering, Wuthering Heights
1:21:20 > 1:21:22# Heathcliffe, it's me... #
1:21:22 > 1:21:25Peter McMaster's production of Wuthering Heights is
1:21:25 > 1:21:27a humorous devised piece with an all-male cast.
1:21:30 > 1:21:31# Let me into your window... #
1:21:31 > 1:21:33Why Wuthering Heights?
1:21:34 > 1:21:36Originally, it was an experiment.
1:21:36 > 1:21:39I was interested to see what would happen
1:21:39 > 1:21:41if a group of men decided to do that.
1:21:42 > 1:21:44But actually over the period of the process,
1:21:44 > 1:21:50I've realised that this classic male archetype, which is almost 200 years
1:21:50 > 1:21:56old, is probably quite an appropriate figure to compare ourselves with.
1:21:56 > 1:21:57THEY SCREAM
1:21:57 > 1:22:00You are so selfish for leaving me here!
1:22:00 > 1:22:02I hope you won't be happy until you die.
1:22:02 > 1:22:05I am never going to be happy now.
1:22:05 > 1:22:07You'll just move on, find someone else, won't you?
1:22:07 > 1:22:10What am I going to do if you're going to die?
1:22:10 > 1:22:12Why did you come back?
1:22:12 > 1:22:14Why all male?
1:22:14 > 1:22:20Because I was interested in making a piece of work with and about men.
1:22:20 > 1:22:22A few years back,
1:22:22 > 1:22:26I was working on a performance that my partner was doing,
1:22:26 > 1:22:29which was a big interrogation of feminism
1:22:29 > 1:22:31and as much as I was supportive of it,
1:22:31 > 1:22:34I also was wondering what my place
1:22:34 > 1:22:36within that kind of dialogue could be.
1:22:36 > 1:22:41It quickly felt like I didn't have...
1:22:41 > 1:22:44a position in that, really, to contribute as fully.
1:22:44 > 1:22:49MUSIC: "Hey Boy Hey Girl" by The Chemical Brothers
1:22:49 > 1:22:50On the other side of town,
1:22:50 > 1:22:54transgender performer and playwright Jo Clifford's latest show
1:22:54 > 1:22:56is an ecclesiastical affair.
1:22:56 > 1:22:59The Gospel According To Jesus, Queen Of Heaven,
1:22:59 > 1:23:01is... Well, it's more or less what it says on the tin -
1:23:01 > 1:23:08it's a presentation of the Gospel as if reimagined through the life
1:23:08 > 1:23:12and the sayings of a transgendered Jesus, which is a who I play.
1:23:12 > 1:23:14I love my mum.
1:23:16 > 1:23:19My mum said...
1:23:19 > 1:23:21let there be light.
1:23:22 > 1:23:24And I say...
1:23:27 > 1:23:29..I am the light.
1:23:29 > 1:23:31I wanted to put on the show,
1:23:31 > 1:23:36because so much of the prejudice that people like myself encounter
1:23:36 > 1:23:42is, sadly, tends to be justified by Christianity, by the Christian faith.
1:23:42 > 1:23:45And, in actual fact, it's anti-Christian,
1:23:45 > 1:23:48there is nothing in the Gospels, nothing in what Jesus says
1:23:48 > 1:23:52that justifies that and I just wanted to make that very simple point.
1:23:52 > 1:23:57And our conception was immaculate because it happened through sex.
1:23:57 > 1:24:01And sex, of itself, is innocent and pure.
1:24:01 > 1:24:05Almost every other culture that's ever been in the world has understood
1:24:05 > 1:24:07that there are more than two genders.
1:24:07 > 1:24:10The West is really in a minority in this respect.
1:24:10 > 1:24:15And almost everybody has areas in which they feel...
1:24:15 > 1:24:18Well, they feel unsure about whether they're really a proper man or
1:24:18 > 1:24:22they're unsure about whether they feel they're really a proper woman.
1:24:22 > 1:24:24Hyah!
1:24:24 > 1:24:26HE IMITATES A HORSE
1:24:28 > 1:24:30'I think gender is a performance
1:24:30 > 1:24:32'and I think it's distinct from our sex,'
1:24:32 > 1:24:35and I suppose if we believe that gender is a performance
1:24:35 > 1:24:36and that we're are all kind of...
1:24:38 > 1:24:41..ascribing to a supposed way of being,
1:24:41 > 1:24:44then perhaps, through performance, we can rework it, as well,
1:24:44 > 1:24:48and I think that's part of the work of this project.
1:24:48 > 1:24:51THEY ALL TALK AT ONCE
1:24:53 > 1:24:54Now me! Now me! Now me!
1:24:54 > 1:24:56Now me!
1:24:57 > 1:25:00Hey-ya!
1:25:00 > 1:25:02No, Nick.
1:25:02 > 1:25:04Pull them up.
1:25:08 > 1:25:11Time now for another trip through town on our tram,
1:25:11 > 1:25:15this time in the company of the champion beatboxer Grace Savage.
1:25:18 > 1:25:21SHE BEATBOXES
1:25:57 > 1:25:59Drop the beat.
1:26:12 > 1:26:13Beatboxer Grace Savage's show Blind
1:26:13 > 1:26:16is at the Pleasance for another week.
1:26:16 > 1:26:18Dance is always a highlight of the Edinburgh Festival
1:26:18 > 1:26:21and this year is no exception with a host of dazzling productions
1:26:21 > 1:26:23from around the world.
1:26:23 > 1:26:27Strictly Come Dancing's most effervescent judge Bruno Tonioli
1:26:27 > 1:26:29tiptoed his way around town
1:26:29 > 1:26:31sampling some of the festival's finest footwork.
1:26:35 > 1:26:40In the world of dance, there isn't much I haven't seen, done,
1:26:40 > 1:26:43bought the T-shirt and the legwarmers.
1:26:43 > 1:26:44I am always hungry for inspiration.
1:26:44 > 1:26:47So I've come to the Edinburgh Festival
1:26:47 > 1:26:51to catch some of the best dance from around the world.
1:26:54 > 1:26:56Next week at the International Festival,
1:26:56 > 1:27:00one of my heroines, the late, great Pina Bausch,
1:27:00 > 1:27:03is celebrated as her company brings Sweet Mambo
1:27:03 > 1:27:05to this year's programme. Unmissable.
1:27:09 > 1:27:13But you don't have to wait for the International Festival
1:27:13 > 1:27:16for a taste of really world-class dance.
1:27:16 > 1:27:19THEY CHANT
1:27:21 > 1:27:24THEY YELL
1:27:25 > 1:27:29This year, New Zealand's leading dance company, Black Grace,
1:27:29 > 1:27:33bring a distinctly South Pacific flavour to the Fringe with
1:27:33 > 1:27:38a series of dances by their Samoan founder, Neil Ieremia.
1:27:42 > 1:27:44Well, that was impressive.
1:27:44 > 1:27:46Tell me a little bit more about the Samoan background,
1:27:46 > 1:27:49because obviously it is something that is very important to you.
1:27:49 > 1:27:52Sure. My parents taught me traditional dance
1:27:52 > 1:27:54when I was young, it's just part of our culture.
1:27:54 > 1:27:58Art isn't separate from life in Samoa, it's the same thing,
1:27:58 > 1:28:00so everyone's a comedian, everyone's a singer,
1:28:00 > 1:28:03everyone's a dancer, it's just part of your life.
1:28:03 > 1:28:05The Fa'ataupati, the slap dance that I use in Minoi,
1:28:05 > 1:28:08is something that I got taught at a very young age
1:28:08 > 1:28:10and, because we have an oral tradition,
1:28:10 > 1:28:14it's not written down, so it's very difficult to trace the roots.
1:28:14 > 1:28:17I was asking someone once where they thought it came from
1:28:17 > 1:28:20and they thought that it came from swatting away mosquitoes.
1:28:23 > 1:28:24That's what they thought.
1:28:24 > 1:28:27More, I think, it's about psyching yourself up for something,
1:28:27 > 1:28:31like a war dance or traditionally what we have in New Zealand, a haka.
1:28:31 > 1:28:35So that's some of the origin for the work.
1:28:37 > 1:28:40There's a variation in the Gathering Clouds piece, in the Bach,
1:28:40 > 1:28:44which is a knife dance performed by the chief's daughter,
1:28:44 > 1:28:47- so it's a huge influence on my art. - It's wonderful.
1:28:47 > 1:28:51There's a little sequence, I call it the Flock Of Birds,
1:28:51 > 1:28:53tropical birds, taking off.
1:28:55 > 1:28:59Can you show it to me? Maybe I'll try to do it.
1:28:59 > 1:29:00It's just...
1:29:02 > 1:29:04That's it, open.
1:29:04 > 1:29:05Ah!
1:29:07 > 1:29:12- Oh, beautiful.- And then you begin doing this. And a one and a two...
1:29:12 > 1:29:14OK, that's more complicated.
1:29:14 > 1:29:18BOTH: And a one and a two and a three and a four.
1:29:18 > 1:29:19Oh, it's very fast.
1:29:19 > 1:29:23And a one and a two and a three and a four.
1:29:23 > 1:29:25Oh, I can join the company! I'm done.
1:29:28 > 1:29:31The Barrowland Ballet hail from nearby Glasgow...
1:29:31 > 1:29:33Morning!
1:29:35 > 1:29:38..infuse ballet and contemporary dance
1:29:38 > 1:29:40in their latest work, Tiger.
1:29:40 > 1:29:42BRUNO GROWLS
1:29:42 > 1:29:44GROWLING
1:29:48 > 1:29:52Tiger centres on an ordinary family whose life is turned upside down
1:29:52 > 1:29:56when something wild enters their life.
1:29:57 > 1:30:00You're playing this very pivotal role
1:30:00 > 1:30:03of the kind of slightly emasculated husband
1:30:03 > 1:30:07and the fun-releasing tiger,
1:30:07 > 1:30:10which some people would see as a scary monster,
1:30:10 > 1:30:14but for me is actually all about the beauty and the excitement
1:30:14 > 1:30:16and the unpredictability of life.
1:30:16 > 1:30:18Well, I guess it's just two extremes.
1:30:18 > 1:30:21Everybody's got an inner tiger, we just need to realise how to...
1:30:21 > 1:30:22I know that.
1:30:24 > 1:30:26Within these confines, it's a very rigid movement
1:30:26 > 1:30:28and then when Tiger comes in,
1:30:28 > 1:30:31he really starts interacting with the audience
1:30:31 > 1:30:33and the movement's very much...
1:30:33 > 1:30:35It's quite spontaneous.
1:30:35 > 1:30:38The tiger, when he comes out, he's a little bit over the top,
1:30:38 > 1:30:41- he pushes it a bit too far. - I noticed that, yeah.
1:30:41 > 1:30:45- It works extremely well.- It should be a little bit frightening
1:30:45 > 1:30:48and a little bit in your face, but without...
1:30:48 > 1:30:49He never frightened me.
1:30:49 > 1:30:52I don't know, maybe because I'm a bit of tiger myself.
1:30:57 > 1:30:59The idea is that the set behaves like the tiger, as well,
1:30:59 > 1:31:01it's got this sense of danger.
1:31:01 > 1:31:06But also this, sort of, joy and the abundance of fruitiness.
1:31:06 > 1:31:10At the beginning, it looks like something stifling and sinister.
1:31:10 > 1:31:12And it ends up as a fairground.
1:31:12 > 1:31:17Yeah, for me the cobweb effect is a really good analogy
1:31:17 > 1:31:20for this idea that you think that you've got these four walls
1:31:20 > 1:31:22and you've got to stay contained in them,
1:31:22 > 1:31:24but in fact the walls don't really exist.
1:31:24 > 1:31:26- You create your own walls. - Yeah, exactly.
1:31:30 > 1:31:33If unleashing your inner tiger isn't your thing,
1:31:33 > 1:31:35you can always join in
1:31:35 > 1:31:37with something a little bit more familiar.
1:31:37 > 1:31:39Five, six, seven.
1:31:39 > 1:31:42Oh, look at her movements.
1:31:42 > 1:31:45MUSIC: "Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)" by Beyonce
1:31:47 > 1:31:51Well, you see what we get in Edinburgh, a bit of everything.
1:31:51 > 1:31:55'Everyone can learn to shake their ass almost like Beyonce.'
1:31:56 > 1:32:00But, at this festival, there is something very cool to check out.
1:32:02 > 1:32:06This August, an ice skating show is coming to the Fringe,
1:32:06 > 1:32:09but Dancing On Ice it ain't.
1:32:09 > 1:32:14French Canadian company Le Patin Libre have devised their show
1:32:14 > 1:32:18to put paid to tired old notions of figure skating.
1:32:18 > 1:32:23What was spectacular et vraiment excitant, amusant, different,
1:32:23 > 1:32:27c'est le rock'n'roll on ice!
1:32:27 > 1:32:30- Oui, un peu...- I've got to go back to English now.
1:32:30 > 1:32:33It kind of shakes the cobwebs a little bit.
1:32:33 > 1:32:35I'm completely passionate about glide,
1:32:35 > 1:32:38it makes me feel happy, that's the way I express myself.
1:32:38 > 1:32:41But in the world of figure skating it's very, very conservative
1:32:41 > 1:32:43and I wanted to try something else,
1:32:43 > 1:32:46so I started this collective of people to experiment.
1:32:46 > 1:32:48It's good. It's a bit like what happened with ballroom
1:32:48 > 1:32:51when we came into the scene and we kind of made it...
1:32:51 > 1:32:53approachable and acceptable.
1:32:53 > 1:32:56In Canada, we're not allowed to dance.
1:32:56 > 1:32:59- Dance is forbidden in public skating sessions.- Forbidden?
1:32:59 > 1:33:02- Yeah, it's completely forbidden. - You're joking. I don't accept that.
1:33:02 > 1:33:05But there are rules like you cannot hold hands, you cannot turn,
1:33:05 > 1:33:08- you cannot raise your feet. - Well, you cannot live then.- Exactly.
1:33:08 > 1:33:10Oh, listen, I like a rebel. Rebel, rebel!
1:33:20 > 1:33:22The rope started as a technical research,
1:33:22 > 1:33:25like the physics of skating are so interesting,
1:33:25 > 1:33:29momentum keeps going and with that link between two humans,
1:33:29 > 1:33:32something special happens and the rope is about that,
1:33:32 > 1:33:35like pulling, like there's a conflict, but then there's harmony.
1:33:35 > 1:33:39- But then embracing it and finally escaping it.- Yeah.
1:33:39 > 1:33:42BRUNO LAUGHS
1:33:42 > 1:33:44As part of the show,
1:33:44 > 1:33:47Le Patin Libre also invite the freshly inspired audience
1:33:47 > 1:33:51onto the ice, to try out some cool moves for themselves.
1:33:51 > 1:33:55I have a confession to make, I don't do ice.
1:33:55 > 1:33:58I couldn't possibly risk these wonderful legs,
1:33:58 > 1:34:03so I'll let the professionals show you how to do it.
1:34:13 > 1:34:17Bruno Tonioli there, and you can see more of Black Grace online.
1:34:17 > 1:34:19Now, think of a Ming vase
1:34:19 > 1:34:23and you're likely to conjure up an object of great rarity and value,
1:34:23 > 1:34:27but there's more to the Ming era than just exquisite porcelain.
1:34:27 > 1:34:29A new exhibition at the National Museum
1:34:29 > 1:34:31traces a period of
1:34:31 > 1:34:33great social, economic and artistic transformation.
1:34:33 > 1:34:37Lars Tharp, an expert in Chinese ceramics, guided me around.
1:34:41 > 1:34:44The Ming Dynasty ruled from the mid-1300s
1:34:44 > 1:34:48and was the world's largest and richest empire for three centuries.
1:34:51 > 1:34:56Known as the Golden Empire, it was a time when the arts flourished.
1:34:56 > 1:34:59The treasures in this collection tell of a cultural life
1:34:59 > 1:35:03which went far beyond the iconic blue and white vase.
1:35:04 > 1:35:07This beautiful scroll shows us the Forbidden City
1:35:07 > 1:35:11and this signifies the arrival in a way of the Ming Dynasty.
1:35:11 > 1:35:17It does, in Beijing. It had arrived years before, down in Nanjing,
1:35:17 > 1:35:19which means "southern capital".
1:35:19 > 1:35:24But the next emperor but one decided, "No, I want to go up north,"
1:35:24 > 1:35:29so he did a replica in Beijing of what they'd built in Nanjing.
1:35:29 > 1:35:32And this represents something that actually
1:35:32 > 1:35:34is virtually unchanged today.
1:35:34 > 1:35:38It's one of the great spaces in any human culture
1:35:38 > 1:35:43and this functions as a celestial, imperial, administrative capital
1:35:43 > 1:35:46for a good 700 years.
1:35:46 > 1:35:51I have a theory that, in the minds of the people who designed this,
1:35:51 > 1:35:54as well as the people walking up that avenue,
1:35:54 > 1:35:58there was the Chinese character for "central".
1:35:58 > 1:36:00It's a box with a line going through it,
1:36:00 > 1:36:03and the character says zhong.
1:36:03 > 1:36:08And the Chinese for China is Zhongguo,
1:36:08 > 1:36:12the central kingdom. It is the centre of the centre.
1:36:12 > 1:36:16- And all around us is the universe that they created.- Absolutely.
1:36:18 > 1:36:20The Ming was a period of huge social change
1:36:20 > 1:36:23and was run by a powerful, educated elite.
1:36:25 > 1:36:28So we have six very characterful portraits
1:36:28 > 1:36:30of clearly very important men.
1:36:30 > 1:36:33We're staring into the face of the Ming.
1:36:33 > 1:36:35These are amazing portraits.
1:36:35 > 1:36:39When I saw these, I thought it's very similar to the realism
1:36:39 > 1:36:43you get in the Hans Holbein pictures of the inner court of the Tudors.
1:36:43 > 1:36:47These were the absolute top so-called literati.
1:36:47 > 1:36:50You're wondering, "Is he looking at us or are we looking at him?"
1:36:50 > 1:36:54He was supposed to be one of the great connoisseurs of his time
1:36:54 > 1:36:57and told people what was good and what was not good
1:36:57 > 1:36:59in the artistic realm.
1:37:02 > 1:37:05To become a member of this elite scholar class,
1:37:05 > 1:37:09it was essential to pass a strict exam set by the emperor.
1:37:09 > 1:37:14The exams they were sitting were to show that they were competent
1:37:14 > 1:37:16in the Chinese classics, Confucius and others.
1:37:16 > 1:37:19And they had to demonstrate their skill at composition,
1:37:19 > 1:37:22but also through the use of the brush.
1:37:26 > 1:37:29Amongst this literati class, the mastery of brush and ink
1:37:29 > 1:37:32was essential and the art of calligraphy
1:37:32 > 1:37:35was seen as the highest form of human endeavour.
1:37:35 > 1:37:37These are classic brush pots.
1:37:37 > 1:37:40The pots you keep your brushes in for writing letters,
1:37:40 > 1:37:44for writing poems and above all for producing scrolls
1:37:44 > 1:37:46like the ones we see here.
1:37:46 > 1:37:49It's not the traditional, round bamboo shape.
1:37:49 > 1:37:51No, it's made of bamboo and I suspect
1:37:51 > 1:37:54to get it into that distorted form,
1:37:54 > 1:37:57they probably put a girdle round a piece of bamboo
1:37:57 > 1:37:59whilst it was actually growing.
1:37:59 > 1:38:02It's carved to resemble a pine tree,
1:38:02 > 1:38:03and just underneath
1:38:03 > 1:38:08there are two cranes which represent conjugal fidelity and long life.
1:38:08 > 1:38:13And this is carved by one of the most famous carving families
1:38:13 > 1:38:17of the Suzhou area, one of those rare occasions where we actually
1:38:17 > 1:38:23know who the artist, the craftsman who actually made this, was.
1:38:23 > 1:38:27- That's fantastic. That is a very, very important object.- Amazing.
1:38:32 > 1:38:35The scholar artists using these pots were creating
1:38:35 > 1:38:38quintessential landscapes of which
1:38:38 > 1:38:41there are a couple of stunning examples in this exhibition.
1:38:43 > 1:38:47But, for me, the show stopper is an object so small
1:38:47 > 1:38:49it could easily be missed.
1:38:49 > 1:38:52It's two centimetres long. What are we looking at?
1:38:52 > 1:38:57Well, it's a little gold cicada, sitting on a leaf.
1:38:57 > 1:39:02And it was found in a family tomb next to the skull
1:39:02 > 1:39:04of one of the buried family.
1:39:04 > 1:39:08The cicada is an emblem of long life, of immortality, in fact.
1:39:08 > 1:39:12Cos the larva lives underground for four years before emerging
1:39:12 > 1:39:16and then bursting out of its pupa, becoming this extraordinary bug.
1:39:16 > 1:39:18It's sitting on a simple leaf.
1:39:18 > 1:39:21Yeah, and the two materials, gold and jade,
1:39:21 > 1:39:23are two incorruptible materials.
1:39:23 > 1:39:27Jade is reckoned by the Chinese to be the purest form of matter.
1:39:27 > 1:39:30And gold likewise does not tarnish.
1:39:30 > 1:39:33You can see it looks as though it was made yesterday.
1:39:33 > 1:39:37This is one of the most beautiful objects I've seen for a long time.
1:39:42 > 1:39:46The Ming Dynasty saw a shift towards a market economy
1:39:46 > 1:39:50and amongst its chief exports were the unique ceramics of the day.
1:39:50 > 1:39:53Unsurprisingly, Lars has singled out an exceptional piece
1:39:53 > 1:39:55from this collection.
1:39:55 > 1:39:59Porcelain evolves in China and the thing they like about porcelain
1:39:59 > 1:40:02is it's white and it sparkles.
1:40:02 > 1:40:04Not only white, but also translucent.
1:40:04 > 1:40:08- It's a domestic wine jar... - With a beautiful, beautiful lid.
1:40:08 > 1:40:11And the lid is the thing that always disappears.
1:40:11 > 1:40:13But here you've got the whole thing
1:40:13 > 1:40:17- and it's a lid in the... Can you see the veins on top?- So it's a leaf?
1:40:17 > 1:40:21It's a lotus leaf and the little button on top
1:40:21 > 1:40:25is where they cut the stem off the lotus, so it's a beautiful wine jar.
1:40:25 > 1:40:29Everybody talks about Ming jars and they are usually referring
1:40:29 > 1:40:33to blue and white, and blue, as in this jar here,
1:40:33 > 1:40:36is achieved by putting cobalt onto the vase
1:40:36 > 1:40:38before you put the glaze on.
1:40:38 > 1:40:41It then fires and it goes to that blueish colour.
1:40:41 > 1:40:45But, at the same time, red, red is the colour of the Ming.
1:40:45 > 1:40:49And they happened to discover that by putting copper oxide
1:40:49 > 1:40:55onto the piece, if you're lucky, it fires to this spectacular red colour.
1:40:55 > 1:40:58As the dynasty goes on, they are beginning to discover that there
1:40:58 > 1:41:01are all sorts of other colours they can put on top of the glaze.
1:41:01 > 1:41:04Really very, very sophisticated production.
1:41:06 > 1:41:08In fact, there's a wonderful fish tank
1:41:08 > 1:41:12which is decorated with a lotus pond scene
1:41:12 > 1:41:14and among the lotus ponds there's three cranes.
1:41:14 > 1:41:19They are painted in underglaze blue and when that stuff starts
1:41:19 > 1:41:22hitting Europe in the late 1500s into the 1600s,
1:41:22 > 1:41:26then Europe goes "What is this? We can't do this."
1:41:26 > 1:41:30And we couldn't do it for another 250 years afterwards.
1:41:34 > 1:41:37So we come to the ultimate experience of the exhibition.
1:41:37 > 1:41:40And a map like none I've ever seen in my life before.
1:41:40 > 1:41:44It's laid out here electronically, but this is the real deal.
1:41:44 > 1:41:49This is a contemporary copy of the map presented by Matteo Ricci,
1:41:49 > 1:41:52a Jesuit who had based himself in China,
1:41:52 > 1:41:54hoping to convert the Chinese
1:41:54 > 1:42:00and showing the Chinese what the West knew of the entire world.
1:42:00 > 1:42:04A world which the Chinese thought was square.
1:42:04 > 1:42:08But which Matteo Ricci told them, "No, it's a sphere,"
1:42:08 > 1:42:10and this is a projection of a sphere.
1:42:10 > 1:42:13And what does that actually tell us about the rest of the world?
1:42:13 > 1:42:15Or what does that tell us about the Ming Dynasty?
1:42:15 > 1:42:17This is a traditional European map
1:42:17 > 1:42:19where there is an attempt at scale, of relative scale.
1:42:19 > 1:42:22The Chinese weren't particularly interested in relative scale.
1:42:22 > 1:42:25Actually, if you go to Beijing today, you buy a Beijing map,
1:42:25 > 1:42:26it is impossible.
1:42:26 > 1:42:30They only show important things are big and unimportant things are,
1:42:30 > 1:42:31sort of, off to the side.
1:42:34 > 1:42:38What does this exhibition reveal to us overall
1:42:38 > 1:42:42about the extent and the power and the culture of the Ming Dynasty?
1:42:42 > 1:42:47Well, the Ming Dynasty is the last indigenous Chinese dynasty.
1:42:47 > 1:42:49So what we're seeing here, if you like,
1:42:49 > 1:42:53is the last gasp of indigenous Chinese society.
1:42:53 > 1:42:56The Ming begins to falter, through various reasons,
1:42:56 > 1:43:04in the early 1600s and it officially comes to an end in 1644.
1:43:04 > 1:43:07So what this exhibition represents, really, is the glory of the Ming.
1:43:07 > 1:43:10Yeah. Yeah. And the taste.
1:43:11 > 1:43:14Ming: The Golden Empire is at the National Museum Of Scotland
1:43:14 > 1:43:18until October and you can see another exhibition of Ming artefacts
1:43:18 > 1:43:21at the British Museum in London next month.
1:43:21 > 1:43:23Time now for our final tram journey,
1:43:23 > 1:43:26this time in the company of the Portuguese percussionists, be-dom.
1:44:40 > 1:44:42The infectiously energetic be-dom
1:44:42 > 1:44:44and they are at the Underbelly for one more week.
1:44:44 > 1:44:47Now, as this is our last edition of Edinburgh Extra,
1:44:47 > 1:44:50we wanted to leave you with some of our favourite shows.
1:44:50 > 1:44:52There's more than a week to go at the Festival,
1:44:52 > 1:44:56so, if you are in town, here are some of our discoveries.
1:45:01 > 1:45:06Amazing grace and anarchic energy in the immersive circus event, Bianco.
1:45:37 > 1:45:41Olwen Fouere's mesmerising tour de force, RIVERRUN,
1:45:41 > 1:45:43adapted from James Joyce's Finnegans Wake.
1:45:44 > 1:45:49Behold, he returns, renascenent, fincarnate,
1:45:49 > 1:45:51still foretold around the hearth-side,
1:45:51 > 1:45:55at matin a fact, foe purmanent, fum in his mow,
1:45:55 > 1:45:57awike in wave risurging into chrest,
1:45:57 > 1:46:01victis poenis hesternis, fostfath of solace,
1:46:01 > 1:46:04earthlost that we thought him, pesternost, the noneknown warrior,
1:46:04 > 1:46:06from Tumbarumba mountain.
1:46:09 > 1:46:12Festival stalwart Lucy Porter's debut play,
1:46:12 > 1:46:14The Fair Intellectual Club,
1:46:14 > 1:46:18reveals the hidden female history of the Scottish Enlightenment.
1:46:18 > 1:46:22'Tis my honour, as a humble clergyman's daughter,
1:46:22 > 1:46:25to appear before a club of the most polite Scottish ladies.
1:46:25 > 1:46:28We are not all Scottish. Of course, I am English.
1:46:28 > 1:46:30Your mother is English.
1:46:30 > 1:46:32And Englishness runs on the maternal line!
1:46:32 > 1:46:35Not that I have anything against you Scottish ladies,
1:46:35 > 1:46:38- although you are sometimes a little rough woven.- The impertinence!
1:46:38 > 1:46:42- A club...- My family hails from a place where the ladies are famous
1:46:42 > 1:46:44for their refinement, decorum and modesty -
1:46:44 > 1:46:46the county of Essex.
1:46:46 > 1:46:49LAUGHTER
1:46:49 > 1:46:53And suddenly Will is transported into a palatial paradise,
1:46:53 > 1:46:56where even his slightest whim can be actualised.
1:46:56 > 1:46:59An old video tape conjures up humour and sadness
1:46:59 > 1:47:03in the linguistically thrilling Stand By For Tape Back-Up.
1:47:03 > 1:47:06The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air is exactly that,
1:47:06 > 1:47:09a kind of hip-hop twilight zone.
1:47:13 > 1:47:16And, whether you're in Edinburgh or not,
1:47:16 > 1:47:18a political thriller you can download
1:47:18 > 1:47:21to your smartphone or tablet, City Of The Blind.
1:47:23 > 1:47:26You are life-savers. I really, really owe you one.
1:47:26 > 1:47:28- Yeah, yeah. - Now, spill, why are we here?
1:47:28 > 1:47:32OK, so Francis Lang gave me these massive data sets.
1:47:32 > 1:47:35We need to work our way through, find connections.
1:47:35 > 1:47:38Someone really does not want this found.
1:47:38 > 1:47:44- So that's the end of the road? - No. I just need to go to Vienna.
1:47:44 > 1:47:47She's right. It's the only option.
1:47:47 > 1:47:48That's me for this year,
1:47:48 > 1:47:51but do join Sue Perkins for Edinburgh Nights
1:47:51 > 1:47:54on Friday on BBC Two at 10 o'clock.
1:47:54 > 1:47:57And you can see more from the BBC at the festival at...
1:47:59 > 1:48:02There'll be more performances added every single day.
1:48:02 > 1:48:05We leave you tonight, though, with guitar legend Paco Pena
1:48:05 > 1:48:08and his new show, Patrias, later this month,
1:48:08 > 1:48:10which commemorates Federico Garcia Lorca
1:48:10 > 1:48:13and the horrors of the Spanish Civil War. Good night.