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I have admired Wayne McGregor's choreography since I saw his work "Symbiont(s)" for the Royal Ballet at the Linbury Theatre last year, in which Deborah Bull in particular was brilliant. And earlier this year I was equally impressed by his work "detritus" for the Rambert Dance Company at the Sadler's Wells Theatre which attempts to contrast classical and contemporary dance vocabulary.

The concept of this 70-minute long original work "Nemesis" is an exploration of the duplicity of mankind in different environments. McGregor said in an interview in the South China Morning Post that he was fascinated by the "In and Out" Club on Piccadilly in London which apparently has a lot of secret tunnels underneath for its members to access other locations.

The work's first half is very exciting, showing off the energy of the ten superb dancers (one of whom is former Royal Ballet dancer Tom Sapsford), contrasted by a post-apocalyptic second half which sees the dancers metamorphosing into insect- type creatures with prosthetic arms represented by callipers strapped onto their bodies. McGregor is interested in the dysfunction of the human body, as he said in a post-performance discussion talk. This is reflected in the dancers' prosthetic arms in the second part of the work.

The stage picture is often enhanced by projections of photographs of the dark interior of a dilapidated building as well as animation onto a backdrop at the back, and striking lighting designs which at one point created a chess grid on the floor. It was significant that the sound artist Scanner performed his interesting score live on the first night in Hong Kong, which apprently he didn't do when the work was premiered at the Sadler's Wells Theatre in London in March. The yellow and black costumes for the first half, the 'insect' costumes and the prosthetic arms for the second half were all designed by Jim Henson's Creature Shop.

The first of the two parts of the programme was the more satisfying in terms of dance. The choreography was inventive and consisted of solos, duets, trios, and ensemble dances which are rhythmically varied. Stillness was frequently contrasted with motion. In the main pas de deux, the dancers evoked the beautiful long lines of classical ballet, the high extensions of the woman exuded tension and anxiety which was scarcely relieved by some brief tender moments between the couple. I was reminded at times of Balanchine's masterpiece "Agon". Animated images projected on the backdrop evoked a fire at one point, followed by a heavy rain.

The second half commenced with CCTV images of underground alleys. All the dancers were transformed into insects in this part, which seemed to portray a combat in this insect kingdom gradually heightening in aggressiveness. Could McGregor have been inspired by some of Paul Taylor's works? There was a play on scale earlier on when two dancers moved on stage accompanied by large projections of their photos on the backdrop. The choreography for this second half was engrossing in a different way, in its militaristic flavour. The fighting between the dancers wearing one or two callipers was quite exciting, well contrasted by a slightly more peaceful pas de deux.

This theatrical work concluded with a solo for McGregor himself clad in white, accompanied by white lighting and animation. Towards the end he seemed to be pursued by comets from all sides in the background.

Some members of the audience stayed behind to attend the post-performance talk on the first night. I asked McGregor which choreographers have influenced him the most. He mentioned Balanchine and Merce Cunningham, and he added that it was a pity that he wasn't in London this past week to be able to see Merce Cunningham Dance Company's performances.