Shelly Gilbride, a local dancer and mother of two, is headed to the United Kingdom, not for the Olympics, but to perform in another epic international event, the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

Gilbride, the local dance artist who organized Dance Dance Davis in Central Park in the spring, is fulfilling a lifelong dream to perform in the largest open-access performing arts festival in the world, the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. She will perform with A Mused Collective, a live music and dance ensemble.

Performing artists from all over the world — including drama students from Davis High School — will descend upon the Scottish capital this month when the city opens its proverbial doors, windows and streets to performers of every artistic genre. With more than 2,000 shows in across 200 venues, the 2012 Fringe promises to be the biggest ever, Gilbride says.

The performers of A Mused Collective have been preparing for their trip for six months, logging more than 200 hours of rehearsal time and raising thousands of dollars to cover the costs of renting a venue, advertising and just eating and sleeping in Edinburgh.

While Gilbride is the only current Davis resident in the group, A Mused Collective has deep ties to the Davis community. Four of the performers are UC Davis graduates, including Gilbride, who received her Ph.D. from the department of theater and dance in 2009; dancer Jenjen Wong; artistic director Abby McNally; and the musical director, Tony Poeck.

McNally and Gilbride met while dancing with the Linda Bair Dance Company, a modern dance company based in Davis. Bair is a creative mentor to both McNally and Gilbride.

A Mused Collective will be one of three groups from Northern California to perform in the festival. The ensemble of two musicians and five dancers will be bringing some Californian sass and spunk to Edinburgh, performing the world premiere of “Fragment,” in which a gaggle of scrappy ladies toss pillows — and each other — around in a dance and musical discovery of self and community.

Gilbride has a long history with fringe festivals. She performed in the Philadelphia Fringe Festival in 1997 and has attended Fringes in San Francisco, Boulder, Philadelphia and New York.

“The philosophy and energy of Fringe is really exciting,” she said. “There is a spirit of collaboration and creative risk-taking. There is no separation between professional and amateur or between artistic genres. Everybody is there to share in the creative spirit.

“And you happen upon performances everywhere — in the street, in pubs, parking lots and store windows. Fringe takes that ‘let’s put on a show’ chutzpah to another level!”

This will be her first time participating in a Fringe outside of the United States, and as a dancer in her 30s with two kids, it feels like the opportunity of a lifetime, she said.

A Mused Collective will be performing at the Greenside Venue in Edinburgh, Scotland, through Aug. 18. Gilbride will be blogging about her Fringe experience at http://amusedcollective.com/musings.html.

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Dancers with A Mused Collective are, from left, Shelly Gilbride, Krystal Willis, Jenjen Wong, Abby McNally and Susannah Richter. They will perform Aug. 8-18 at the Fringe Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland. Courtesy photo

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