The Parades Gone By, Sadler's Wells, London

A perfectly executed slice of nostalgia

Christopher Bruce has chosen two contrasting programmes for Rambert Dance Company's London season: one concentrating on drama, the other on straight dance. A more interesting idea, perhaps, than two mix-and-match shows containing (as the late Richard Buckle once wrote) something for everyone to dislike; and yet I wonder how many people will really enjoy both the works on the theatrical opening programme.

Lindsay Kemp's cinematic parody The Parades Gone By, created for Rambert in 1975 and newly revived, was always meant as a bit of amusing nostalgia. It revolves around an ageing film director remembering his successes, if you can believe in one man working with Valentino, Dietrich, Pickford, Bela Lugosi, the Astaires and even Disney. Inevitably, the piece is a series of sketches, some more successful than others.

What carries the whole thing forward is the music. Carlos Miranda, then a pianist with Rambert's Mercury Ensemble, arranged a diverting mix of period recordings and allusive new writing to evoke the heady charm of film scores; one of the delights this time was seeing Amy Hollingsworth on crutches miming to "One Day My Prince Will Come".

Other notable first-night caricatures included Andrew Hurst's transformation from her Beast to her Prince, and Simon Cooper's engagingly gory Dracula. If you're lucky, you may find it all more than just mildly amusing; it gives the dancers something outside their usual run, which they tackle with enthusiasm, especially the final "Lullaby of Broadway" routine with the whole company.

Best of all is that at some performances Christopher Bruce is playing the director: reportedly his farewell to the stage. It doesn't really give him the scope of so many past roles, but he makes the most of it – and then some – from his white hair and make-up (a clever imitation of Kemp, although Kemp actually made the role for another dancer, Bob Smith), through his impeccable timing, to his teasing smile, part touchingly warm, part cynical.

I'm all for showing old works, but there are plenty I would rather see, and Parades looks old-fashioned given here with She Was Black. Created in 1995 for the Cullberg Ballet, this is one of Mats Ek's best ballets and a cut above most made anywhere lately. The strange, obsessive content of its duets, solos and ensembles, and the contrasts between them, makes a burningly theatrical experience: sometimes naughty, often startling, always striking.

Mounting it 18 months ago as the first Ek ballet in any British repertoire, Rambert danced it well; now they do it even better – in fact, just about to perfection. You couldn't ask for more impressive evidence of what Bruce has achieved in eight years as director of the company.

Rambert Dance Company is at Sadler's Wells, London EC1 (020-7863 8000) to 25 May