Final Edition marks the very last performances by the Richard Alston Dance Company since its founding in 1994.  This follows a decision to shift budgetary support towards touring younger artists. However, they are not going out with a whimper.

The final tour is made up of several newer works, remaining true to its origins by concentrating on classical pieces with the odd relatively contemporary one.    Alston’s style is thoroughly contemporary with a heavy dose of more formalised ballet moves and relies as much on theatricality as it does on movement.  Although never daring, it is composed and easy on the eye, but with enough vim to make the heart flutter.

In Bath the troupe opened with a perfectly courtly arrangement to Monteverdi called ‘Voices and Light Footsteps’.  The delicate rhythms are flawlessly captured in a sensitively expressive series of dances performed by the five male and four female cast.  Each piece is very tenderly explored and is a perfect counterpoint to the harpsichord and viol.  The costumes, by Peter Todd, allow the performers a degree of sensuality, while remaining very proper and correct.  The final piece, Damigella Tuttta Bella shows the company expressing sheer joy amidst the polite civility of the music and this fizzes out with great charm.

The second piece, Shine On, is much more difficult, as Benjamin Britten’s work ‘On this Island’ possesses a darker and at times almost brutal message.  Pianist Jason Ridgway and singer Katherine McIndoe perform live on stage while the individual dances challenge the understanding.  This is Sir Richard’s newest piece having only debuted in November 2019 and in programme notes he acknowledges the troubled nature reflecting his own sadness at losing his company of twenty five years.

‘A Far Cry’ is another new piece from 2019 although this time created by Martin Lawrance the company’s associate choreographer.  There is a tremendous freedom of movement in this entirely ensemble work.  It bursts with crackling energy and the desire to convey excitement is palpable. The costumes by Zeynep Kepelki seem almost space age and the girls look like they have stepped out of the cast of The Incredibles.  The fact that the music is by Edward Elgar may come as a shock, but the overall effect perfectly captures the feeling of celebration rather than mourning.      

The last piece, the Brahms Hungarian, again featured the scintillatingly superb piano work of Jason Ridgway and consists of a series of vignettes matched to within a wafer thin cut of the music.  The swirling Hungarian Dances have the demonic groove of the Magyar mysticism while the dancers wear Gypsy chic with pride.  Each short piece ends with a flourish; a curt nod here, a series of claps there and the audience become entwined with the fun and sheer raunchiness of it all.

And so it ends.  Richard Alston has enjoyed a fifty year career and may well go on for a few more, but the company bows out with a fine cast of dancers.  And a bang!   ★★★★☆    Bryan Mason  31^st January 2020

Photo by Chris Nash