Northern Ballet's Perpetual Motion!

I went to see Northern Ballet's Perpetual Motion last night. This is the company's first programme of short dance pieces in their new home on Quarry Hill which is rapidly becoming the new Leeds cultural quarter.

The four short ballets were performed in the Stanley and Audrey Burton Theatre which is small and intimate if a bit hot! The evening started with Scottish Ballet's new Artistic Director Christopher Hampson showing off the dancers' strength with spins, jumps and beats in Perpetuum Mobile which takes Bach’s Violin Concerto in E Major as its inspiration. The first half finished with a performance of Project#1 which is dancer Kenneth Tindall's choreographic debut. The work is set to Dinah Washington and Max Richter’s powerful and emotional 'This bitter earth' which for me was the highlight of the evening..
The second half started with Glass Canon which was a high-energy, mischievous and dynamic dance set to, and inspired by, the music of Moishe’s Bagel choreographed by Daniel de Andrade. The evening finished with 'Rhapsody in Blue' from Northern Ballet's 'I Got Rhythm', where five couples dance to Gershwin's famous music. It was fantastic to have live music for this performance with clarinet and two pianos adding some real energy and passion to some amazing music and some wonderful dance.