Generations: Three Short Ballets, Linbury Theatre, review: Northern Ballet dance up a storm

The highlight is New York City Ballet star Tiler Peck’s new piece ‘Intimate Pages’, which shows off the dancers’ crisp technique and sense of drama

Harris Beattie in Tiler Peck’s ‘Intimate Pages’ (Kyle Baines)

Northern Ballet dance up a storm in Tiler Peck’s vivid new Intimate Pages. The New York City Ballet star’s new work shows off the dancers’ crisp technique and sense of drama, in a whirl of changing moods.

Peck’s ballet is the highlight, but Generations: Three Short Ballets shows versatile dancers in sharp form. Northern Ballet is best known for its dance storytelling, but in recent years the company has developed shorter and more varied works alongside its big narrative ballets. New director Federico Bonelli uses this format to emphasise the classical side of his company, in a programme that ranges from lyrical to bravura.

Danced to Janáček’s string quartet, Intimate Pages casts Harris Beattie as the hero of a romantic drama, pursuing Sarah Chun through a crowd of dancers. He loses her among doubles or sees her whisked away by supporting soloists; groups of dancers bar his way, or carry her back to him. Chun is a mercurial heroine, both dreamy and playful. The charismatic Harris switches from explosive, stormy steps to gentle intimacy.