The gang is all here!! All seven muses of A Mused Collective are now finally in Edinburgh. As our last to arrive, Jenjen, touched down, the clouds parted and we had a gloriously sunny day here in this city of “green, rain and stone” as Krystal says.  There seems to be a heat wave every time A Mused Collective performs and I don’t think anyone in Edinburgh will mind if the California sunshine stays with us here for the next two weeks!

I started this beautiful day with a hike up to the scenic overlook of Calton Hill with Abby and Tony (see pictures above of our early morning antics).  From the peaceful morning hilltop we prepared ourselves for the real start of our Fringe experience, for our performance baptism tomorrow. We will start the morning on the iconic Royal Mile where we will do our very first street performance. On the historic cobblestone street teeming with people, with the Edinburgh castle as the backdrop, we will gather an audience to a postage-stamp of a stage to preview Fragment. And we are among the lucky few groups that have one of these little pop-up stages that dapple the street every few meters. While the Fringe has a strict application process for street performances, the thousands of performers that have descended upon this fair city just can’t help themselves! People resourcefully stage all kinds of theatrics to market their shows; playing dead on the street in a postcard chalk line, donning crazy costumes, and reciting monologues as they walk. We look downright tame in our short shorts, tie flair and bustles!

After our street performance prelude tomorrow, we will debut Fragment in the garden theatre of the Greenside Parish, a perfectly quaint stone church. Though the church is right down the street from the Royal Mile, it seems far removed from the mayhem. At the base of Calton Hill, the active parish feels like a retreat, a little performance hideaway. Greenside has turned every bit of their grounds into performance space for the Fringe, and while it feels removed, it is a well-attended and well-respected performance venue. Martha Graham famously said,  “Wherever a dancer stands is holy ground.” Performingin a space like Greenside, on their holy grounds, we are reminded that we dance and we share our dance because it nourishes our souls and offers us respite amidst the craziness that is Fringe.  It is a spiritual act in many ways.

Of course, we welcome the crazy, which is why we are here! So, here’s to our Fringe debut tomorrow. May all the spirits, gods and angels be with us! - Shelly