Artistic Director Morag Deyes MBE says: "I've been out there in the wonderful world of dance, and brought back some real gems from the around the UK and Scandinavia for this years festival. This handpicked programme will make you laugh, cry, think and generally be astonished at what the human body can do. There's something for everyone from the kids to the quantum physicist in the family and previous knowledge of dance is absolutely unnecessary."

With support from the Scottish Arts Council, Dance Base is proud to present home-grown talent including X Factor Dance Company, plan B (Frank McConnell) and dance for kids from YDance (Scottish Youth Dance) and clowning maestro Clive Nicholas Andrews. Festival audiences will be glad to see the return of local Rosie Kay whose 2006 Dance Base show The Wild Party was a five star sell-out success. Through its Heads Up studio showings other Scottish artists and companies will also have a chance to show their work to festival audiences.

For the first time Dance Base is breaking out of its main studio and presenting plan B's world premiere parallel | parallels in a specially created parallel universe in another of the Grassmarket studios. Breaking out of the building altogether will be Janis Claxton Dance's site-specific durational piece Enclosure 44 - Humans in a real animal enclosure at Edinburgh Zoo.

As well as dance from Scotland, Norway, Iceland and Austria there's a strong Irish strand in the 2008 programme. In partnership with Dance Ireland, Dance Base present Irish Cream, a triple bill of Irish contemporary choreography as part of a project that will see a return visit of Scottish companies to the Dublin Fringe festival in September.

Stripped is an extra week of performances in the glorious Studio 1 with its glass roof and picture perfect view of Edinburgh Castle. Emptied of the black curtains and lighting rig three companies will perform work destined for broad daylight.

Dance art will be on show to the public throughout August with an exhibition of Paul Watt / X Factor Dance Company's production photography. Billy Cowie's In the flesh is a special installation where an audience of one can get up close and personal with a 3-dimensional dance film.

Classes and workshops are ever popular with daily classes for all levels and weekly workshops including burlesque fan dance, clowning and bollywood. All wrapped up with a Big Festival Ceilidh at the end, Dance Base's biggest ever programme is a gift!

Irish Cream; Beatbox Bingo, Match & Hanging In There

6, 7, 10 & 14 August | 14:00
8, 12, 15 August | 16:30
9, 13, 16 August | 19:00

Unspoken, In time and it will snow & Crazy in love with MR. PERFECT

9, 13, 16 August | 14:00
6, 7, 10, 14 August | 16:30
8, 12, 15 August | 19:00

Double Points: K & Balls

8, 12, 15 August | 14:00
9, 13, 16 August | 16:30
6, 7,10, 14 August | 19:00

Enclosure 44 - Humans

Edinburgh Zoo | Tues 5 - Sat 16 August (not Mon 11) | 10:00 - 17:00 daily
Feeding time - 13:00 daily | The Human Animal Talk - 15:00 daily

Stripped - Daylight Studio Performances | Wed 20 - Sat 23 August

Aurora Borealis | 12:00 daily
Inbetween | 14:00 daily
Heads Up | 16:00 daily (not Sat 23)
Forgotten | 18:00 -- www.dancebase.co.uk