DANCE: A Run for your money

After 30 years hard dance-making, you'd think that, like dear old Reggie Kray, they'd be thinking about giving Richard Alston time off for good behaviour - but he is still hard at it. His company's spring tour features several new works, including Red Run which receives its UK premiere in London on 4 March. ''There's a raunchy sound to the music [by Heiner Goebbels]. I've tried to make a piece that showed different aspects of the 10 individual dancers of the company."

Red Run contrasts strikingly with Brisk Singing, which is danced to Jean Philippe Rameau's Les Boreardes. Rameau was recently dusted off when Mark Morris directed his opera-ballet Platee for the Royal Opera last year at the Edinburgh Festival. Alston contrives to combine his admiration for Morris's easy, exuberant style with a desire to be nothing like him at all: ''I hope it is as spirited as Mark can be. Light, and with a lot of humour, although humour is not the first concern of Brisk Singing (above)." The 18th-century composition inevitably dictates measures, although Alston obviously avoids them. ''Some are gavottes and minuets and rigaudons, but there are also some arias with dance rhythms in the background."

Sadly, we won't be getting Rameau played live. Singers and a full orchestra cost money - ''We'd have to be in the Festival Hall before we could break even" - although the Goebbels will be played live by the London Sinfonietta. Far be it from Richard Alston to complain about funding (his company are paid to work nine months of the year): ''As independent dance companies go, we are well funded. I really do believe in dancers being able to work consistently over a long period - something you take for granted in classical dance. It influences the kind of dance that is made. I wish there were more people who could be in our position." Amen to that.

Richard Alston Company, QEH, SE1 (0171-930 4242) 4-7 March