Scottish Ballet, Sadler's Wells, London <!-- none onestar twostar threestar fourstar fivestar -->

Zo&euml; Anderson
Tuesday 21 March 2006 01:00 GMT
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Great claims have been made for Scottish Ballet since Ashley Page took over in 2002. The company's profile has risen; last year's Edinburgh Festival appearance was the first in two decades. It's been a bumpy ride, but this triple bill reveals a transformed company.

The sensation is Balanchine's Episodes, which hasn't been seen in London for 30 years. This 1959 work started out as a collaboration between Balanchine and Martha Graham, set to music by Webern. Balanchine's sections survived, and they're extraordinary.

When the curtain goes up, there's already a world on stage. Four couples take hands, and each curving limb looks like a statement of intent. The dancing is taut, spare and completely unpredictable. Legs extend, feet suddenly flex; dancers dip into froggy squats.

In the next movement, Episodes becomes even stranger. As spotlights pick out two dancers, its world grows to include sleepwalkers and acrobats. Eve Mutso teeters forwards on pointe, and as she arches backwards, she's supported by Robert Doherty's hands - an amazing pose, even if he weren't already in a shoulder stand.

The dancers follow their own path through the creaks and angles of Webern's music: the fierce logic of these steps makes me see patterns I would have missed in the music. The last movement is Webern's "Ricercata", based on Bach - here, Balanchine makes you hear Webern's edges in Bach's patterns.

Stephen Petronio's MiddleSexGorge has proved popular, but the punk score and corsets dress up a ballet which is really all posing.

William Forsythe agreed to arrange Suite from Artifact exclusively for Scottish Ballet. The first section has fractured duets framed by a semaphoring corps. Forsythe's gestures are pointedly meaningful without actually meaning anything, which sums up the ballet.

The duets are in Forsythe's usual fast, aggressive style. The most striking moment comes in the second movement, when Mutso leads the dancers through clapping games. Throughout, the dancers move with athletic clarity, confident and strong.

Festival Theatre, Edinburgh, 30 March to 1 April; Theatre Royal, Glasgow, 5 to 8 April

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