She is one of the hottest young choreographers around and the first person to be appointed Associate Artist of the Royal Opera House. Now Cathy Marston has come up with an important new abstract work for Northern Ballet Theatre.
An epic of pure dance and an exultant kaleidoscope of moves, Dividing Silence is a finely crafted piece for six couples which shows Marston's gift for sculpting the human form into incredible shapes. Inspired by the concerto for double string orchestra, piano and timpani by Czech composer Bohuslav Martinu, the result is dynamic and intense.
The opening tableau of dancers breaks across the stage into stark lines then wonderfully controlled patterns. They teem around the stage in a fusillade of groupings that constantly change shape like shifting kaleidoscope beads. It's a fairground ride that never ends, swerving round corners with contrasting dynamics.
In three duos led by Jonathan Ollivier and Victoria Lane Green, Desiré Samaai and Christian Broomhall, two bodies become one and then two become four, fusing into multi-limbed creatures. The dancers interlock and entwine then flash into daring lifts and diagonal balances. Women are flipped over the heads of three men while couples dance contrasting moves, limbs at full stretch or tightly contained.
This stunning triple bill showed the company's versatility with the dazzling Lambarena, a witty fusion of Bach, ballet, African music and dance, originally made by Val Caniparoli for San Francisco Ballet, and Jardi Tancat, the wonderfully atmospheric Spanish piece by Nacho Duato, danced to the soaring voice of Maria Del Mar Bonet, one of Spain's most popular artists.
· Until Saturday. Box office: 0113-222 6222.
