Ullapool Village Hall to host trailblazing dance-theatre gig

A Highland village hall will host a new “dance-theatre gig” by two award-winning artists this week.

Charlotte Mclean and Jack Anderson collaborate with acclaimed artist, composer, fiddler and piper Malin Lewis to present not for glory at Ullapool Village Hall on Wednesday (April 16).

Not for glory is described by its creators as “a restless, relentless, rebellious unraveling of traditional dance and music”.

It’s described as “bodies, bagpipes and brutality. It’s kilts, queerness and ceremonial violence. It’s back beats, high cuts, striking in, a battering, flinging skirl”.

Not for glory resuscitates tradition with respect and resilience, dissects heritage and dances solidarity. It’s a dance-theatre gig balancing virtuosity with vulnerability, pride with shame.

Jack has a long connection with Ullapool and all three performers reclaim the traditions they grew up in. The show is described as a contemporary and radical performance that combines mesmerising and unique sounds from the bagpipe, fiddle and loop pedal, with energetic and raw dance and movement, to reclaim and reshape traditional Scottish and Irish dance and music.

Rooted in the performers' shared Scottish heritage, the work uses humour and storytelling to breathe new life into the past by dissecting and reconstructing it through the lens of queerness, resilience, and reimagining. The work is a powerful exploration of identity and culture— “not for legacy, not for glory, but for transformation”.

Having recently been named Dance Fellow of 2025 by The Arts Foundation by a panel including Sir Wayne McGregor CBE, choreographer, director and artistic director of Studio, Charlotte Mclean’s body of work includes Futuristic Folktales and And.

She combines her training at London Contemporary Dance School with her background in competitive Highland Dance to create work that pushes the boundaries of dance. As a performer, choreographer, and interdisciplinary creative, her practice is deeply rooted in community values, intersectional feminism and collective creativity.

Her work has been commissioned by The Place London and Tojo Theater Bern and has been presented at the V&A London, Tramway Glasgow, Black Box Teater Oslo, and Alte Münze Berlin.

Jack Anderson began his career as a professional Irish dancer before training at Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance. After more than a decade away from Irish dance, he returned to the form through the development of not for glory and residencies with Dance Ireland, Dance Limerick, Galway Dance and renowned artists Jean Butler and Colin Dunne.

Malin Lewis is a bagpiper, fiddler, instrument maker and award-winning composer, blending Scottish west coast traditions with a self-invented bagpipe. Their music, “inspired by European folk traditions, queerness, and the universe”, challenges and expands traditional notions of Scottish sound.

Following the release of their debut album Halocline in 2024, Malin continues to explore the liminal spaces between identities and traditions, using music as a medium for transformation and self-expression.

Together, these three Scottish-born artists channel their deep connections to tradition through innovative performances that redefine how heritage is presented today.

Charlotte Mclean said: “not for glory is a show that is inspired by each of our competitive backgrounds, and the careers and forms we have built through this. It explores rituals, traditions and Scottishness via this through-line, offering a space for young people engaged in these areas and those within the Celtic world, to connect to.

“Jack, Malin and I have created this work together by entwining our experiences. They are both such open-minded, honest, creative, playful performers and people, and I can’t wait for people to embrace not for glory.”

Jack said: “Immediately, it felt like there was something exciting about how our experiences and memories overlapped. Each of us has been shaped in some way by the combination of tradition with competition - by all the bravery, obsession, limbo states, humanity and weirdness that these niche worlds contain.

“Charlotte and Malin are both incredibly generous collaborators, with deep knowledge as well as rebelliousness, and diving into the not for glory world together is proving to be wildly interesting.”

Malin Lewis said: ‘With Jack and Charlotte it feels like the boundaries between movement and sound can be blurred. It’s so inspiring to work together in creating a world between our traditions, competitions and experimentations and I’ve loved getting to make such a varied range of sound for this piece. The work feels deeply personal yet it extends a great big warm welcome and invitation to feel included.”

Not for glory previews at Ullapool Village Hall on Wednesday (April 16) at 7pm, and will be performed as part of Pomegranates Festival at Dance Base on Sunday 27 April at 6.30pm.

For tickets see here.

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