The Richard Alston Dance Company’s latest performance is now touring the UK. The three pieces performed in each of the respective acts provide a great display of the contemporary dance company’s repertoire and, with each being quite different, there will be inevitably be something for all appreciators of the artform to enjoy.

The first act consists of Tangent, where the dancers enact the movement of the seasons to Jason Ridgway’s piano music. It’s no reflection of the skill of the dancers or the quality of Ridgway’s accompaniment that I found this the least interesting of the pieces. Certainly the troupe do a good job of evoking the flirtations of spring and the dourness of winter, etc. But this performance, by comparison to what followed, felt like a bit of warm-up where the dancers were not as challenged to keep up with the demanding pace and movement of the music, nor as much opportunity to really show off. Not to say that the piece was not physically demanding or was badly performed, but this was a gentle rather than a rousing opener.

The strengths of the second two acts were much more strongly apparent and both offered very different experiences for the audience. Chacony saw the company choreographed to music originally created by Purcell and then reinterpreted by Britten. In part because the musical accompaniment was so much more distinctive, this was a more captivating performance than Tangent, but the choreography too seemed all the more ambitious for involving the entire troupe. The fully synchronised movement of all the bodies on stage was a precisely coordinated spectacle.

If Chacony was an excuse for the company to truly impress as a group, the final piece An Italian in Madrid, though giving room to all members of the company, was an opportunity for some formidable singular performances. Ihsaan de Banya and Liam Riddick certainly earned their exuberant applauses for this section but the standout has to be Vidya Patel who really gets to offer the most memorable performance of the night as the Princess Maria Barbara. I am, I must admit, more partial to dances given a modicum of narrative context as is the case here which might be why this was my favourite. Quibbling over which individual act or element was the strongest may be churlish, however. With the variety and talent of dancers of stage, the Richard Alston Dance Company performed a holistically impressive show.    ★★★★☆   Fenton Coulthurst   13^th May 2017