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Dan Daw returns to the Festival in EXXY; a bold work of dance-theatre featuring three talented performers alongside him. Music plays a huge role not just in the performance itself but the work that's gone into crafting the piece behind the scenes. Dan shared these tracks with us and in his own words lays bare why they're so important to the performance. You'll even find a playlist of curated tracks to get you in the mood to move.
Dan Daw, Artistic Director DDCP, Co-Director and Performer
Dan returns to the Festival after last year’s The Dan Daw Show, this time joined by three extraordinary performers who move like him. Together, they conjure up the tantalising possibility of blending in after a lifetime of standing out. With raw honesty and scorching stagecraft, they ask what it costs to stay at the top of your game when you’ve always been made to feel on the outside.
Girl on Fire was played in the room almost everyday during our making process. It initially acted as a kind of pep talk for the Co-Directors, me and Sarah Blanc, and has now become the anthem we play after our daily line run and before we go backstage to get ready for the show. Our four cast members stand along the front of the stage with their hands on their hips and look out into the auditorium while the song plays.
Oops, I Did It Again is a warm up favourite. It tends to lighten the mood. I have a clear memory of a particularly tough day in the rehearsal room and Sarah put on a bit of Britney and our tears and self-doubt made way for pure joy – dancing, laughing, letting go. When this track comes on in our warm up, I always look forward to the cast’s attempts at vocal fry and lip syncing of the spoken word break.
our tears and self-doubt made way for pure joy – dancing, laughing, letting go.
I talk a lot about having a 'messy body' and how much I love it. Those of you who saw The Dan Daw Show at Edinburgh International Festival last year will remember my unafraid reclamation of pride for my body and for myself. Messy was released around the time of our final season of The Dan Daw Show, and has become a keeper. It’s a celebration of messiness with just the perfect amount of 'fuck you' to those at the very top who still insist on being mediocre; contributing so little to the world they’re intentionally and systematically destroying, all for their own financial gain.
Berghain Bush (This Is Easy Mate) is one of three tracks on this list specially composed for EXXY by our brilliant composer, Guy Connelly. Even in the very early stages, dreaming about what the work could be, I was drawn to the Australian landscape and dusty outback where I spent my childhood. With this, myself and Sarah sent Guy a list of tracks by Australian artists that encapsulated the loneliness, nostalgia and melancholy that I felt growing up in an isolated township.
Power of Love is essentially the glue that holds EXXY together. In shaping a work looking at self-worth, I remember a time when I didn’t doubt himself. This time was attributed to the relationship I had, and still have, with my doting nan, who always believed in me and allowed me to be my authentic self. I have clear memories of me and my nan singing The Power of Love together in her back garden at the top of our lungs.
Do It Again. (Better, More) is another of the tracks specially composed for the show. It was created by Guy Connelly in response to my experiences of frequent visits to hospital as a child. I recall having to repeat simple, mundane tasks, so the physicians could assess my brain’s development and the extent of his brain damage. This track has a beautiful double meaning, because it also connects to us being able to 'get better' and function well to be able to stoke the fires of Capitalism and put our bodies to work; making the rich, richer and the poor, poorer.
All the Tall Poppies is the third, and final, track on this list specially composed for EXXY. Nick Cave-esque in sound, it is the soundtrack for a moment of catharsis where I realise that no matter how hard I work, as a disabled person, I’ll never be financially comfortable, because of the way the system fails disabled people on the daily. It speaks to the dichotomy, and reality, of being well known in the industry, but still having to check my bank balance before saying yes to a dinner invitation. I ask myself 'when will it all just get easier?'
And last, but by no means least, we have Simian Mobile Disco with Cruel Intentions who kick off our pre-show playlist and let us know that the house is open. It’s showtime!
You can hear these tracks, along with a few extras, in the playlist below. EXXY runs Sunday 23 August 2026.
