Love, despite appearances

Smith Dance Theatre's Agnes and Walter has a cast that spans both generations and the companies that have demonstrated that choreography is as crucial as script. Artistic director Neil Paris was part of Fabulous Beast, Michael Keegan-Dolan's Irish dance powerhouse, while performers include Dan Canham, formerly of DV8, and Punchdrunk.

Inspired by the film of Walter Mitty. it casts light on the most effective way to preserve a long-term relationship: ignore it and dive into rich fantasy lives.

For Paris, Agnes and Walter is the culmination of an ambition to do something with Mitty: but while the original story led to the name become a synonym for a hopeless dreamer, Paris sees him as an archetype of the artist. Daydreaming may seem "a negative activity," he says. "But this is a vital ingredient of aspiration and development."

Rescuing Walter from his portrayal as a hopeless waster, Paris' vision is preoccupied with what lies beneath appearances, and the potential of the mind. Dance critic Donald Hutera saw an early version and was impressed by the way that the story became "a springboard from which to fashion a tender, quirky and wordless look at aspirations and disappointments."

When Hutera points out that the action is wordless, he is accounting for the reason behind its potential success in Edinburgh. In an international festival city, the language barrier is always a good thing to crack. When the characters are saving themselves from the mundane, it is not surprising that the answers lie in dance.