Observations: Sprinklers on stage

It's rare to see dancers, who are so vulnerable to injury, risking dangerous conditions. Most dance shows are called off at the first sign of wet – or at least held up, while everyone gets the mops out. In one of the oddest interruptions, The Royal Ballet once had to stop the ghostly second act of Giselle when the atmospheric dry ice left a layer of slippery grease all over the stage.

This week the first night of Rosas's Steve Reich Evening in Edinburgh started almost an hour late, when the Festival Theatre's sprinklers went off just before the start of the performance. Audiences were herded back out of the auditorium while technicians tried to fix the problem. Once the show started, dancers were still scurrying about with towels, mopping the stage before and even during numbers.

Zoë Anderson