Missy opens the show sitting at a desk with a mug and a stack of printed out reading material, a reference to her introduction to coffee as a study aid. The show then goes on to explore aspects of Missy’s relationship with coffee through aerial acts, pole dance, dance and monologue.

A routine on silks is the backbone of the show, being well choreographed and featuring Missy’s most impressive tricks. It is strong, elegant and seductive, allowing Missy’s burlesque background to shine through. Acts on aerial hoop and pole have a similar tone and are performed

While Missy’s performance as a circus artist is engaging, her performance as a character is not strong enough to draw the audience in. The show feels in need of more charisma, energy and emotional honesty. There are a couple of short skits that attempt to provide this, but don’t quite hit the mark. At one point Missy performs a short monologue about her coffee preferences, but this doesn’t include any interesting observations and her delivery is dominated by nerves as she shifts awkwardly from foot to foot. The show would perhaps benefit from more floor-based circus skills, such as hula hoops and manipulation. These allow for personal expression and would enable a stronger connection with the audience.

The coffee theme is not as well executed as it could be. Incorporating a mug into some of the acts is slightly interesting, but loses its impact very quickly. Ideas of love, emotional loss, routine and reliance on caffeine are only considered at a very basic level and conveyed using literal movement, such as a repetitive dance sequence illustrating the daily coffee purchase. Some social commentary about coffee culture would add more interest to the show.

Aside from all these issues, this is a cohesive, well-paced performance with some beautiful moments. It features enjoyable music choices including jazz and classical.

As her first solo performance, Love Loss and Lattes is a commendable effort by Missy. But although her aerial acts are solid they are not able to drive the entire show in the absence of strong characterisation.

Love, Loss and Lattes is on at Gasworks, 21 Graham St, Albert Park from 29 September – 3 October at 9:45pm, with a matinee on 3 October at 4pm. For more information or to book tickets, please visit https://www.melbournefringe.com.au or call the ticketing team on 9660 9666.

The audience is first corralled in an area behind the North Melbourne Town Hall before being guided by the artists through nearby streets, with short performances taking place on footpaths, alleyways and other open spaces along the way. It is important to note that there is no opportunity to sit down during during the hour-long performance, and the route includes some darkened areas with uneven surfaces that may be difficult to navigate for some patrons.

The concept for the piece grew from performer Skye Gellmann’s experiences living outdoors by choice for two years. Watching the performers interact with the urban environment is quite visceral, everyone involved is experiencing the same biting cold, roaring of traffic and passing smells of restaurants and grass, which heightens the connection between the performers and audience.

A tissu routine performed by Naomi Frances uses this connection well to highlight ideas of the visibility and vulnerability of women on the streets. Hanging from a tree on a traffic island, she performs with cars and trucks rushing either side and with the curious passers-by stopping to stare.

A third performer, Alexander Gellmann, manages to pull off a series of impressive feats on a bike and rolla bolla despite the limitation of having his arm in a sling.

Although the pared-back, gritty nature of the show is in a sense liberating as it rejects the convention and embellishment of commercial circus, it also restricts the performers in other ways. They use infrastructure of the streets as circus equipment, including rocks as juggling balls and metal barriers to support slackwire. This is aesthetically interesting, but the roughness and unreliability means that tricks sometimes fall flat or are less impressive than they might have been with standard equipment. This is disappointing as it clear that the performers are capable of so much more using standardised apparatus in a controlled environment.

There are also a lot of outside factors that disrupt the performance and atmosphere. At times the performers and audience stand in alleyways with parked cars and things get a bit awkward when people approach the audience to ask if they can drive through the performance space. The usher does a good job of managing these issues, but it’s still quite confusing for the audience when the general public enter the experience.

Skye Gellmann’s Chinese pole routine on a street sign is definitely the highlight of the piece, showcasing his remarkable strength, artistry and sense of ease outdoors. His tolerance of the cold and pain inflicted by the asphalt and metal is striking, and a reminder that pushing bodies past their comfort zones is intrinsic to circus.

Bodies Over Bitumen would have a stronger impact in a quieter location and with a smaller audience. The tone is clearly meant to be serious and engrossing but it can’t quite achieve this with all the interruptions. However, it is a great concept delivered by skilled, mature artists, and it takes circus in some interesting directions.

Bodies Over Bitumen is on at the Fringe Hub, 521 Queensberry St North Melbourne until 3 October. Performances are 5:30pm Sundays and 6:30pm all other nights. Book tickets at melbournefringe.com.au or call (03) 9660 9666.

Perched on stools in a ‘bunker’ (a cellar with pipes winding overhead), the audience is in unfamiliar territory. The absence of any form of prerecorded sound accompaniment means that the focus is exclusively on the movement vocabulary. The space is not silent, however, with the muffled whirring and clunking of unseen machinery a constant throughout the piece.

The choreography is inspired by the connection between man-made structures and the natural environment. One dancer dominates the left side of the space, always present, while the other comes and goes from the right, periodically disappearing to a room behind the audience. Both maintain a burning focus.

The overall effect is that of two dancers being physically distant but engaged in complementary sets of movements and thought processes. At times cyclical, the piece integrates spurts of perpetual motion and long, pregnant pauses.

BUNKER includes a random selection of props, as well as unexpected costume changes that indicates a shift in one dancer’s motivation and quality of movement. These elements are bewildering yet fascinating, building on the idea of the strange relationship between human structures and the natural environment.

The only major issue in the show is that the view from some seats is often obstructed. Much of the low movement downstage is lost.

Landau and Steiner are part of an intellectualist stream of contemporary dance, pushing the limits of physical expression. For those who prefer traditional dance that asks less of its audience, BUNKER might be an odd experience. This is an intriguing, visually striking work from two incredible artists, well worth a look.

BUNKER is on at Goodtime Studio Basement, 746 Swanston St Carlton from 22-25 September at 7:30pm, with an additional performance on 25 September at 9pm. Tickets $15-$20. Book tickets at melbournefringe.com.au or call (03) 9660 9666.

It’s unusual subject matter for a stand-up comedy show, but that means that there’s an abundance of original material. Ryan manages to find the funny side of baldness, vomiting and other unpleasant parts of his cancer saga. At no point does the show become too morbid, as Ryan focuses on his everyday challenges, decisions and relationships rather than delving into deep philosophical questions of life and death.

Although the primary drawcard of the show is its focus on cancer, Ryan includes quite a few anecdotes unrelated to illness. He also makes several passing comments indicating his intention to move beyond the subject in the future. With a flair for storytelling and a genuine connection with his audience, Ryan’s comic talent doesn’t come across as too reliant on novelty, if you could call a brush with cancer ‘novel’.

There are moments that induce winces of sympathy and others uproarious laughter. Ryan has a casual charm that makes him seem like someone you would meet at a party, but a captivating story that will inspire you to always seek out the humour in misfortune.

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Chemo is on from 18-20 and 22-25 September at The Ballroom, Lithuanian Club: North Melbourne, 7pm on Sunday and 8pm all other nights. Book tickets at melbournefringe.com.au or call (03) 9660 9666.

Once inside, the audience is encouraged to enjoy drinks and canapés in the foyer before being guided around the six dance ‘exhibits’, presented by the facility’s second year students and directed by Paul Malek. The three to six minute pieces have contrasting, abstract themes such as proxemics, perception and mental illness, but with a consistent eerie and intense tone that binds them together. The high ceilings, brick walls and exposed beams of the facility add to the atmosphere. There is an enjoyable sense of exploration as the audience is led through the visually striking spaces.

While the audience is seated for two pieces, during the other four they have the option to move around to view the dancers from different angles. Observing each duo or solo piece at very close range is powerful, especially as the dancers play with piercing eye contact and the invasion of personal space. Audience members are at times led by the hand, brushed on the shoulder or confronted with a dancer moving uncomfortably close to them.

The students’ choreography is strong, moody and exploratory, executed with technical proficiency. One of the most powerful sections is in the final piece, choreographed by Stephanie Newton, which effectively evokes the feeling of being tortured in one’s own mind when suffering from mental illness through frenzied, erratic movement, hyperventilation and a strong sense of one performer’s desire to escape the space.

Most of the pieces incorporate prerecorded footage of the dancers projected onto the walls. While this is effective use of the space, with so many choices of focus the movement on the walls is an unnecessary distraction from the immersive experience. The exception is the piece by Lydia Mcglinchey which uses projections of textures and simple images rather than dancers.

The soundtrack is used as an unobtrusive element supporting the dance, rather than being a feature in itself. Recorded speech and sounds evocative of nature, the human body and animals reinforce the theme of each piece.

The performance is not completely immersive given the presence of a large number of guides, who unfortunately detract from the performance at times. Their casual attitude as external observers is jarring. There are also some OH&S issues with tripping hazards in the darkened rooms that were not managed well.

Apart from these minor issues, Motion Gallery offers an enthralling experience in a spectacular setting.

Motion Gallery played at 10 Elizabeth Street Kensington from 17-19 September.

Natasha Phillips has been working as a producer on one such work, Towards Transparency: Producing the Self, choreographed by 2013 VCA graduate Chloe Chignell. Phillips describes the show as “an ethereal, almost spiritual piece that explores the pure body, including how space and sound affect an individual”. The focus is on both human and non-human bodies in their surroundings without the variables of identity such as gender or race.

Despite having graduated only two years ago, Chignell has already made her mark on the dance industry. She presented The Summit is Blue, her collaborative work with Timothy Walsh, at Dancehouse in 2014, and helped to initiate Dance Speaks, a series of lectures for dance artists in Melbourne, designed to encourage critical dialogue about dance methodology.

Towards Transparency also features the skills of dancer Leah Landau and sound artist Mitchell Mollison, both young artists who have worked on projects in Australia and overseas.

Natasha Phillips says the show will use a range of choreographic and theatrical devices to take its audience on a “journey through the senses”, and is excited to share the talents of the small team with Melbourne audiences.

Towards Transparency: Producing the Self will be performed at the Warehouse, Fringe Hub on the 26, 27, 29, 30 September and 1-3 October at 7.30pm (6.30pm on Sunday). To book tickets visit www.melbournefringe.com.au or call (03) 9660 9600.

“I felt very confronted and challenged by being in a new culture and not understanding the language” says Erpolat. “I had to let go of what I knew and what I felt was right or wrong, and totally open myself to relearning cultural etiquette.”

Urban Rupture uses movement and sound to investigate what it means to orientate oneself in new spaces, and to connect with unfamiliar ideas and experiences that can be found there. Although it has its challenges, Erpolat sees travel as an unavoidable part of her work. “As contemporary art makers we are required to be transient and move. We can no longer base ourselves locally in one state because there are just not enough opportunities for us. We have to be open and flexible enough to move constantly.”

April Albert, a theatre maker who will also be performing at this year’s Melbourne Fringe, identifies with Erpolat’s experiences. “I moved to Australia from London a few years ago and I had no contacts, no friends…. so the creation of my show has been the process by which I’ve made connections.”

Albert is presenting a solo show called Hildegarde/Knef, examining the life of the German singer, film star and author who lived through the Second World War. The show looks at facts about Knef’s experiences, focusing on the elements that particularly interest Albert from a contemporary feminist perspective: “I put a modern spin on things – it’s a bit edgy.”

The show considers what it means to be a woman in a “very post-modern time”, and touches on the idea of guilt, including the guilt still prevalent in Germany seventy years after the end of the war.

Although she performs alone, Albert stresses the contribution of many Melbourne artists made to bring the show to fruition. “I met people who I then asked “Can we have a coffee and talk about my show?”

For Albert, this support from a newfound artistic community was particularly important as she had recently returned to creative work after time off to concentrate on motherhood. Albert says emphatically, “the whole process has built me back up as a performer.”

For both Albert and Erpolat, relocating has had a significant impact on their creative work as well as their personal lives. In Erpolat’s view, the experiences of performers who have traveled are valuable and worth reflecting on. “It’s about listening to the experiences of people coming back from living overseas and integrating that into your own cultural landscape,” she says. She believes it is important to push the boundaries of art in order for these new experiences to be communicated.

Urban Rupture will be performed at Dancehouse, Carlton North from 23–26 September at 8.30pm.
Hildegarde/Knef  will play at Northcote Town Hall from 16–26 September. at 8.30pm, with matinees at 3.30pm on Saturdays.

What is the premise of your show?
My show, Lost in the Looping Glass, features solo violin and loop station. It will take its audience to four completely different sound worlds, and it’s all created live.

How did you become interested in working with a loop station?
My background is as a classical violinist, but I’ve also done some work with bands. I’ve wanted to use a loop station for a long time, so about 18 months ago I finally got one. When I first started using it I got a bit stuck! I could make the loops but I couldn’t get any further artistically.

To solve that problem I asked some composers to write three original pieces for me. I performed them concert-style at the 2014 Melbourne Fringe Festival in a show I called Through the Looping Glass. My show this year is a continuation of that work.

Do you enjoy the experience of working with composers?
Very much! This year I’ve worked with a wonderful composer called Charles MacInnes. He has all these great skills, such as knowing the best way to structure a piece. I can have general ideas like ‘oh, it would be great if we could get from point A to point B’ – and I can visualise it – but I don’t necessarily have the tools to achieve it. I’m a violinist and not a composer, so I really appreciate collaborating with Charles. It means that the loop station becomes a shared tool and we can get the most from its potential.

Helen Bower will perform Lost in the Looping Glass at Scratch Warehouse, Lounge Theatre in North Melbourne, 18-19 September and 1-3 October at 7.40 pm.