Richard Alston has traditionally choreographed most of the repertoire for his sleek, sharp company. But on Tuesday night, he gave the stage to one of his dancers, Martin Lawrance, for About-Face, a strikingly confident piece.
In its casual entrances and exits it owes something to William Forsythe; in its exuberant outbreaks of joyful rapid jumps it recalls Jerome Robbins. But it is also absolutely of itself and announces Lawrance as a talent to watch.
His dancers follow the Spanish-flavoured strains of Marin Marais's Suite d'un goût étranger, their movements adhering to the music with extreme accuracy so that they seem to become the physical embodiment of the sound. There's a repeated motif where a raised arm twists through the air, like a string emitting a note.
What's impressive is the variety Lawrance packs into this slight frame. The work opens with a writhing, weight-shifting solo for the magnificent Jonathan Goddard and closes with Francesca Romo - glorious in each of the evening's pieces - alone on the stage.
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