Taking a blank holiday
By MARY BRENNAN for The Herald

When Claire Pencak formed her own dance company, in early 2000, she named it Tabula Rasa, partly because she liked the cadence of the words, but really because of what it signified: a blank canvas that was primed for creative activity. Now about to launch into her fourth company production, Pencak is clearly pleased at how appropriate the moniker is proving. "I didn't name it Tabula Rasa for nothing," she laughs. "In a way, the name offsets expectations.

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Face to face with ennui
By Ellie Carr for The Sunday Herald


Claire Pençak wants us to be Vis à Vis – face-to-face – with her and her solo dance show. This is a brave venture, comprising three short pieces – Tathaich (The Haunting), by Pençak herself; A Long And Winding Road, by veteran French choreographer Françoise Dupuy; and Feuilles d’Automne, by Scotland’s Frank McConnell. Dancing solo – holding an audience rapt over an entire evening with nothing more than your charisma – is a tough gig for anyone.

Pençak, whose Tabula Rasa Dance Company is based in Scotland, is an engaging enough dancer. She moves her powerful, muscled frame with delicacy and has expressive, searching eyes. But it’s not enough to sustain three solos of broadly similar form.

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Ballet legend Dupuy returns
By Liam Rudden for The Evening News

EVEN now she displays a grace that belies her years, an enthusiasm and aesthetic inventiveness that have become her trademark.

Four-and-a-half decades ago, the acclaimed French dancer/ choreographer Francoise Dupuy - a co-founder of the Ballets Modernes de Paris - brought her company to the Capital to perform at the 1958 Edinburgh International Festival.

Earlier this month, at the age of 78, the veteran of contemporary dance returned to choreograph her latest work for Tabula Rasa Dance Company’s new show Vis a Vis/Face to Face.

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