The joyous surge of Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos, the Russian folk tunes of Stravinsky’s Petrushka, and the rich, seamless layerings of Philip Glass – you could not ask for greater contrast than this Spring mixture from Richard Alston Dance Company.

This year, the company are celebrating Richard Alston’s 40th anniversary as a choreographer – four decades of inspirational movement, musicality and humanism. Come and join the party!

     “Alston’s sparkle undimmed 40 years on”
     The Guardian

Richard Alston’s Blow Over races along to the exhilarating pulse of Songs From Liquid Days by Philip Glass. This is not Glass in cool, serene mood, oh no – this is music urgently driven and the dancers have to fly to keep up, in great leaping arcs of energy.

     “Hot sparkles of detailed dancing and powerfully
     massed ensembles”
     Guardian (2008)

The much loved Brandenburg concertos of Bach are sturdy, vigorous and joyous celebrations of bright instrumental colour. In To Dance And Skylark Martin Lawrance’s high-spirited athletic steps pick up on all the elation of this glorious music.

     “Clever, original in outline, true choreography, and
     I want to see more of Lawrance’s dance-making”
     Financial Times (2007)

Stravinsky’s brilliant use of folk melody highlights the busy to and fro of a Carnival fair. In stark contrast, the isolation of the puppet Petrushka is all the more anguished. In Movements From Petrushka, Alston’s skillful reworking of images from the ballet Petrushka is specially revived this year to mark the centenary of Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes.

     “You only have to watch two minutes from
     Movements From Petrushka to see Alston’s on a
     winning streak”  
     Guardian (1994)