The Curve Foundation @ The Kings Theatre

There is much to admire in the Curve Foundation’s attitude: stuck away in unfashionable Musselburgh, they have flown the flag for contemporary dance, constantly exploring the medium and staging events at many different venues and levels. To celebrate their tenth anniversary, they have moved to Edinburgh’s Kings Theatre, invited guests from Scottish Ballet and Merce Cunningham Company, and rounded out their interpretation of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons with three short guest spots.

Unfortunately, Curve do not seem to be interested in exploiting contemporary dance’s wonderful freedoms, opting for a choreography that is safe and formal rather than imaginative and evocative. The Four Seasons - itself an over-familiar pot-boiler - is performed with gusto but little grace by The Edinburgh Quartet: along with the very loose ensemble dancing, this lends the performance a perfunctory, hurried air.

There is little to distinguish season from season, even though each season has it own choreographer: the company dance as if they were a selection of soloists, hardly aware of each other and looking ragged and slap-dash. The costumes are wretched- t-shirts emblazoned with the dancer’s initial - detracting from any mystery or elegance that the performance could conjure.

This is a shame: in the pas de deux and pas de trois, it becomes clear that The Curve Foundation has some very accomplished dancers: Hannah Ahti and Soraya Ham in particular demonstrate finesse and flexibility, while the men are consistently strong soloists and discreet partners. Yet the discipline is lacking in the group work - the ballet-influenced choreography demanded a far more precise corps.

As a celebration, it is a little damp squib: it hardly showcases the company’s strengths and follows between polite ballet and contemporary adventure.