Rambert at Norwich Theatre Royal

On the evening of Thursday 17th October 2013 I saw Rambert at Norwich Theatre Royal. They are the most distinctive and creative contemporary dance company working in Great Britain today.

Rambert, a powerhouse of dance since 1926, presented a spectacular evening of entertainment featuring terrific dancers, wonderful costumes and great live music from the Rambert Orchestra conducted by Paul Hoskins. The programme consisted of SUB, Dutiful Ducks, Sounddance and The Castaways.

Following the critically acclaimed and multi-award nominated A Linha Curva, Israeli choreographer Itzik Galili returned with his high energy work, SUB, a battlefield of relentlessly sparring testosterone. SUB is performed by seven men responding with full force to the rhythmic complexity of Michael Gordon's Weather One.

Using Charles Amirkhanian's tongue-twisting sound-text of the same name as a starting point, Richard Alston's short solo for a male dancer, first created for Michael Clark in 1982, is sharp and witty. Dutiful Ducks premièred as a solo in 1982. It premièred for four dancers by Ballet Rambert at Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury on 10 October 1986.

Made in 1975 by the late master of contemporary dance, Merce Cunningham, this ecstatic opus was inspired by the words of writer James Joyce and the tiny racing life seen under a microscope. Sounddance made its UK revival première at Sadler's Wells, London on Tuesday 16 October 2012. Sounddance was last performed in London July 1980.

American-born Barak Marshall, has presented work across the world but rarely in the UK. Arresting, original and fevered in style, Barak made his Rambert debut this October with The Castaways. Set to a vibrant mix of traditional Yiddish music and American popular tunes from the 1950s, Barak Marshall's The Castaways is a humorous and playful exploration of human nature. Celebrated for his inventive choreography and witty theatricality, Barak has a truly unique style, the way he brings together popular music, inventive dance and enthralling story lines which makes for an unmissable spectacle.

This was a fantastic night of Contemporary Dance at Norwich Theatre Royal with Rambert performing four wonderful works. The Castaways was my favourite piece which followed the journey of twelve souls trapped in a kind of no-man's land.

Labyrinth of Love at Norwich Theatre Royal

On Friday 30th November 2012 I attended the Rambert Dance Company's performance of the Labyrinth of Love at Norwich Theatre Royal. This is a brand new work by Irish choreographer Marguerite Donlon which is both heart-breaking and humorous. Her Rambert debut is a collaboration with one of America's most performed contemporary composers, Grammy award-winning Michael Daugherty, and includes designs from the visual artist Mat Collishaw, and set and costume designer Conor Murphy.

Rambert Dance Company also performed Monolith, L'Apres-midi d'un faune and What Wild Ecstasy at Norwich Theatre Royal on a night of brilliant dance which celebrated Mark Baldwin's ten years at the helm. Sarah Gabriel was soprano for the Labyrinth of Love which is inspired by love poetry and prose written by or about women spanning over two thousand years from Sappho to Elizabeth Taylor.

The Rambert Dance Company perform without boundaries which both challenges and entertains the audience. This was an evening of world class contemporary dance full of technique and artistry. The Rambert Orchestra provided the soundtrack to the wonderful diverse and beautiful dancing on stage.