Last year I was less than flattering about the dance I saw at the 第二届广东现代舞周 2nd Guangdong Modern Dance Festival, eviscerating the first work I saw, and thinking of killing myself after the second. The dancers of course were and are complete stars and I’m looking forward to seeing them perform again, including Congbin who was in bitches last year and now in the company proper.

The festival programme begins in a week, and looks bigger than last year, more smaller companies, which is an improvement I think over last year’s inclusion of stadium-rock ballet companies like Preljocaj. I dunno what I’ll make of Taipei Dance Circle, having seen far too much of the Martha-does-Taichi stuff for one lifetime, and then there’s headliners The Art Dance Theater Function (ADTF) from Japan whom I know nothing about, stuff from Italy that sounds like Momix or giant-sports-event-opening-spectacular stuff, Nadine Thouin from Montreal who’s also poster girl for the fest, but I do like the name of New Art Club, doing this is MODERN. I thought Pulp This is Hardcore meets Jonathan Burrows & Matteo Fargion Both Sitting Duet, one of the three transcendentally brilliant highlights from 2003’s Vienna ImPulsTanz.

Obviously my pick of the season already, but don’t let that influence you, I can’t stand dance, and like last year, will be drowning myself at Sleepywood in pitchers of Long Island Ice Tea, and then the nearest canal.