Scottish Ballet - Geometry + Grace

Ballet is out on its own in that it cannot be compared readily to other art forms (in the way that the play can be likened to the novel, or opera to balladry and the song-cycle). But at its best it shares affinities with painting and sculpture in its concentration on line, shape and composition. Scottish Ballet's new production could be said to show a kind of development analogous to visual art's transition from representational to abstract.

The first piece is Scenes De Ballet, set to Stravinsky by Frederick Ashton and it's a proficient if unchallenging example of classical ballet, albeit with a few modern nods in the costumery. The next two pieces in the programme make it hard to believe you are watching the same company however; Still Life by Val Caniparoli (receiving its premiere tonight to rapturous ovation) and Fearful Symmetries by Ashely Page expand both the form itself and the audience's mind and senses.

Still Life is fiercely sensual, with an inventive backdrop which plays with inanimate shape the way Caniparoli manipulates his dancers' forms. Music and costumes are spare, giving a stripped down feel in keeping with the naked sensuality on display from the principals (stunning Sophie Martin and Tama Barry)and the overall effect is heady in the extreme. But it's Fearful Symmetries which takes the breath away. Ashely Page's choreography is lapidary, hewn from the rough material of the dancers' bodies and, scored by a propulsive John Adams composition, polished to a powerful perfection.