Rambert
Nottingham Theatre Royal

A triple bill of dance which consists of “A Linha Curva”, “Symbiosis” and “Goat” which shows the variety in dance music and the excitement wrapped in a wonderfully exciting score of music.

“A Linha Curva” brings to life the Brazilian spirit with a group of 28 dancers, four samba percussionists and a wonderful light show.

You just know that with a name like Rambert that the dancing is going to be of the highest quality and that was the case tonight.

This piece was like an explosion of excitement from the start as the dancers burst onto the stage, highlighted by an incredible light show. the male dancers were like peacocks, showing off their plumage in a display of machoism. Bare chested and proud, they were warriors out to attract the female of the species in a sexy and evocative dance throw down.

The costumes were just as sexy as the dancing and the light show. No surprise though when you learn that the costumes and lighting design are all the responsibility of one person Itzik Galili.

The music was just as sexy. The Brazilian beats were urgent and sensual. The four percussionists, Percossa, made a sound so full and round that, if I hadn't seen the four musicians, I'd have thought there were more that the quartet there were.

“Symbiosis”. The music for this piece is composed by BAFTA and Ivor Novello Award-Nominated composer Ilan Eshkeri.

This piece was in complete contract to the previous piece. It was emotive and gentle and the choreography was less urgent, more of a constant flow as the dancers merge and then ebb away.

The piece represented a more urban theme, and while the feel was gentler, there was also the feel of city rush, of crowding, merging and then the release from the crowd.

Again the lighting ranged from an aquamarine blue to blood red to gold; the costumes matching the changes in the lighting.

“Goat” uses the music of Nina Simone. The music is performed live on stage by jazz singer Nia Lynn, and this is the one I least enjoyed, but the one that I was most looking forward to.

It does however show yet another side, a more comedic side of Rambert with one of the dancers, Miguel, acting as a TV style anchorman and describing what was happening and what the dancers were trying to depict by their dances.

When the dance started though, it was again a very different style which was jaw-droppingly good.; I know that they were trying to tell the story in between the dance sections but I'm not sure if that worked here because the dance was just so incredible.

The piece was political and reflected various issues which may have included Trump and the US and gun law, among other thisngs. The story is of ridding the world of the evils on earth and banishing them by writing them on a piece of paper and driving these evils out of town by attaching the written down evils to a goat, which I assumed was Liam, another dancer. When the dancer danced himself to death the evils that had been listed would also die.

Was this trying to be too clever? I don't know. Anyway, I loved the choreography and you just have to admire every dancer for their incredible ease in their art which I realise is something that takes an incredible amount of hard work and training to get in many of the positions these dancers so smoothly got into.

The physical strength these dancers have is phenomenal. They are athletes in the field of dance but they are all so graceful, at times seemingly floating across the stage. And let's face it, it's always nice to see so many toned and honed bodies in one place and being entertaining, and not over dressed!

Whether you're a fan of dance or not, this show will have you with your mouth open in full admiration for the work everyone involved in Rambert's shows have invested.

“Rambert” is at the Nottingham Theatre Royal until Thursday 1 March 2018