One of the frustrations of being a Merce Cunningham fan is that the old master produces such a prolific stream of work. Once seen, most of his dances are stacked away in the attic to make space for new material. So Rambert's acquiring of three recent pieces for its repertory has been a gift not only to Cunningham's public, but also to its own dancers, who get to perform some of the most lucid, interesting challenges of any dance career.
What strikes you first about Ground Level Overlay (1995) is the mellow beauty of Stuart Dempster's accompanying music, which layers deep resonant brass inside a golden bowl of sound, holding the dance suspended within its glowing depths. The combination of burnished sound, golden stage lighting and a design installation of antique bronzed junk makes it seem like a piece from some splendidly past era.
There's one sequence of couples tilting and stepping with elegant decorum around each other that you start to read as a courtly dance, another where three men spin through angled leaps with the vaulting certainty of warriors. Cunningham's inventive mind is as busy here as in all his work, but the tenor of the choreography seems especially grand and serene. And even during moments of entrancing beauty, it doesn't pause to preen. The pure logic of the movement never snags on a moment of empty decoration, and the skilled, intent performances of Rambert's dancers are scrupulously free of narcissism or display.
The rest of Rambert's first programme is taken up by a repeat of Javier De Frutos's The Celebrated Soubrette, and two small-scale works. Twin Suite 2 by Glenn Wilkinson smartly follows the electronic circuitry of its score, a compilation from Aphex Twin. Christopher Bruce's Hurricane, a setting of Bob Dylan's ballad, was originally created for David Hughes, whose bulk and intensity seemed to embody the spirit of the caged, damaged boxer. But his replacement, Simon Cooper, is a subtle dancer who more than justifies keeping this brave, moving curio in Rambert's repertory.
Until November 17. Box office: 020-7863 8000.
