Private Dancer @ Dance Base, Mercure Point Hotel

Once in a blue moon a piece of work appears that is so unexpected, original and brilliant that the usual mental apparatus simply isn’t adequate. You are, as the expression goes, 'blown away' - forced to start thinking from scratch. Private Dancer is such a show.

It would be shame to describe the show from Janice Parker Dance Company in too much detail - as part of the impact is in finding your own way into the experience, but the general setting is that the audience are guests at a house party. The guests are a little awkward because we don’t have the usual party conventions to cling to, but the excellent hosts put us at ease, and over time it becomes a party of friends.

Private Dancer is thought provoking on so many levels that you know it will live with you for a very long time. One of the great strengths of the piece is that it is designed to give you space to think. There are sections of beautiful calming music and the promenade format allows you to take time out to contemplate and store the experiences.

The dancers themselves are gentle and quietly humorous: you learn the grace of small movements as well as large; and they deliver a sense of personal connection that makes you re-think the whole process of shouting at crowds, which is the normal operation for the entertainment industry.

A cross between Art Installation, Zen Garden, dance show and party - how wonderful if this could be a permanent show, so 9 to 5’ers could pop in during lunch time and refresh their souls.

If there is a problem with the show it will be its own success – there’s a risk it will be overwhelmed if audiences are too large. However, Private Dancer cannot be recommended too highly. It’s a rare experience to have the mind re-booted back to the manufacturer’s settings.

At the leading edge of disabled dance practice, and a pioneering work under any measure, this is possibly the most significant show at the Fringe this year.