Crossing Points/Phoenix Dance Company, Linbury Studio, WC2 - review

A group of suited men and women (the tableau is based on René Magritte’s painting, The Son of Man) perform a surreal waltz; then, escaping from their canvas, hurl themselves around the stage, disrobing wildly.

Choreographer Ana Lujan Sanchez’s Catch, for Phoenix Dance is wonderfully theatrical — in a programme that combines movement, physical theatre, hip-hop, and aerial work. When theatre companies so often borrow from dance, it’s fascinating to see dancers repay the compliment.

Everything about this production is beautifully designed — from lighting and sets (bowls of fire, pyramids of light) to the ambitious choice of music. Kwesi Johnson’s hypnotic choreography for SoundClash — inspired by the patterns created by sound waves — is set to music by Luke Harney who regularly collaborates with Peter Greenaway. In Sharon Watson’s Melt, white-clad figures swing and spin across the stage on vertical ropes against the operatic soundtrack of Mercury Prize nominees, Wild Beast.

But it’s the bodies of the dancers — bold, furious, deeply sexy (especially in Henri Oguike’s revived Signal, danced to Japanese drums) — that draw your attention. They have proper thighs and breasts; and wouldn’t look out of place in a club/gig space. But their Olympian-style athleticism is incredible.

Until tomorrow; 020 7304 4000; roh.org.uk