I used to live in France. Every year there would be a couple of commemorative events in the village, on Armistice Day and 14th July. These ceremonies would take place around the war memorial in the village square and, as well as the mayor with his tri-colour sash, there would be a squad of dashing Foreign Legionnaires from the nearby barracks. They stood at attention, their rifles across their chests. These soldiers, with skins of many different hues, were all at the peak of physical fitness and their well-fitting, lightweight uniforms enhanced their muscular form. During the proceedings many of the women of the village, of all ages, would make a point of standing directly behind the soldiers so as to gaze admiringly at their pert bums.

I detected a slight element of this at the theatre last night where a full house of predominantly women had turned up to see BalletBoyz. They would have not been disappointed but I suspect that after the initial thrill of seeing ten fit young men almost within touching distance it would have been the quality of the dance, not the pert bums, that was grabbing their attention.

The current tour, theTalent2015 as it is known, comprised two short pieces – The Murmuring and Mesmerics. The former is a sort of West Side Story rumble, all dirty vests and T-shirts but there are elements of Gustave Doré’s prison yard too with the protagonist’s endless circling, punctuated by elegantly choreographed fights, under a harsh white light from above. The incessant, repetitive booming music by Raime rattled every seat in the house and physically connected everyone to the action. The whole thing was totally spellbinding.

Mesmerics is a slightly gentler piece danced to the equally hypnotic, though slightly more tuneful, music of Philp Glass. For this, the boyz were back in tights and less aggressive mood and were, as the title suggest, mesmerising. The piece was enhanced, as was The Murmuring, by superb, atmospheric lighting and lots of smoke. Jackie Shemesh designed the lighting for The Murmuring, Natasha Chivers for Mesmerics.

BalletBoyz is very much an ensemble company so it is not really possible to pick out individuals; they all shone. Most of the guys are on stage most of the time and there is very little solo work although frequently there are sequences for four or five dancers working together. The dancers, as well as choreographers Alexander Whitley and Christopher Wheeldon, are, at all times, totally on top of their game and it is difficult to fault them.

My only word of criticism is nothing to do with the artistic merits of the performance. I must say that I don’t like at all the trailers/promo videos that are projected on a large screen before each piece starts. I find it incongruous, crude and unnecessary – if we want to watch a video about BalletBoyz we can do so on YouTube. Apart from that, utterly fab.

Superlatives can’t describe BalletBoyz – they are beyond compare and must be seen to be believed. Videos aside ★★★★★  Michael Hasted   29/05/15

Photo Elliott Franks