Ballett Zürich @ Edinburgh Playhouse, 27 Aug

Wayne McGregor’s Kairos is an abstract piece, set to Max Richter’s reworking of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, and starting with a screen of musical staves in front of the stage. Through the screen, we then see dancers pixilated in flashing light, an image suggesting that the dancers are the notes. The angular choreography follows the rhythm closely – particularly effective when some dance the bass, others febrile high notes. At times couples are spotlit, the lighting by Idris Khan a sculptural element.

There is little sense of time passing. It is as if Kairos – ‘the opportune time for a decision’ – is interpreted as a kind of carpe diem where all we have is an ecstatic present.

Christian Spuck’s Sonett takes four of Shakespeare’s poems, chosen to focus on the poet’s relationship with a Dark Lady and an androgynous youth. This piece is glorious, with high drama and extreme contrasts laced with comedy, set to music by Glass and Mozart.

Performed by Eva Dewaele, The Dark Lady races across the stage with arms flailing, clad in a voluminous mauve dress with train streaming like a comet. A giant portrait of a man in 16th Century costume looks down on a diminutive actor, Mireille Mossé, a female Poet’s Shadow. It may seem unusual to British ears to hear Mossé recite the poems in French, but her grating voice and laugh help subvert Shakespeare’s stature as poet and lover.

The dancers perform on platforms as if reciting poetry. It is a virtuoso performance.

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Ballet Zürich: Kairos and Sonett, Edinburgh Playhouse, run ended.