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George Piper’s Spring tour brings together three pieces, which each had late 2003 debuts: ‘Approximate Sonata, I, V’ and ‘Mesmerics’ were both unveiled by the Ballet Boyz last September and ‘Broken Fall’ received strong critical acclaim when it premiered at the Royal Opera House in December. The strength of the Company in procuring new work is evidenced by ‘Broken Fall’ winning this year’s Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Dance Production, for which ‘Mesmerics’ was also a strong nominee.

The programme opens with ‘Approximate Sonata, I, V’, a merging of two dances made by William Forsythe in the mid-90s which he has now reworked especially for George Piper Dances. Bill Forsythe is obviously in a choreographic zone of his own. His work may be grounded within a classical base but from there on it achieves an inimitable style. Whatever direction he takes, no matter how much improvisation is encouraged, the essential character of a Forsythe piece is immediately obvious. Forsythe dance has that unwavering, immutable integrity that every dance maker must aspire to and so few achieve.

This performance of ‘Approximate Sonata, I, V’ opened with Hubert Essakow treading the orange tape, slowing stepping along a marked-out line whilst performing extraordinary facial contortions, like a slow motion focus on the face of a 100 metre sprinter in full flow. As the device begins to pall, it is immediately rescued by the familiar Forsythe technique of off-stage instruction: ‘You’re frightening me…put both hands above your head…try your right hand behind your left ear…’ and so on.

The arrival of Oxana Panchenko confirms the perception of this as a work in progress with the frequent repetition of elements in their pas de deux. Towards the end of the piece, the two dancers speak knowingly to one another about how a movement could be improved before attempting it again. ‘Approximate Sonata, I, V’ inhabits the twilight world of being both a completed work and yet still in the process of continued refinement. As well as providing obvious scope for improvisation, this device encourages the audience to feel that it is being allowed into the secret process of dance creation.

Panchenko’s elasticity, which enables her to stretch her long limbs beyond what should be the physiological limit, is perfectly suited to Forsythe, and Essakow is a very worthy partner. Unlike many, I really enjoyed the innovative feel to the beginning and end of this piece, which in no way demeans the strong double work in the middle, somewhat elevated (!) by these two excellent interpreters of Forsythe’s unique style.

Forsythe is unquestionably one of the great established choreographers at work today, with almost every major ballet company having his work in their repertoire. He is an American who has made Europe his base. Christopher Wheeldon has taken the other route, being a Brit who has chosen to make his dance in the US, and he is probably the latest addition to the elite league of world-class choreographers. So, on several levels, it was very appropriate that Forsythe’s piece led into Wheeldon’s ‘Mesmerics’, which New York City Ballet’s Resident Choreographer made specifically for gpd. We have a lot to thank ‘George’ and ‘Piper’ for, not least that they are bringing work back to British audiences from the best of the brains that have been drained from our indigenous dance scene.

As in past programmes, Trevitt and Nunn intersperse their work with brief video links. These serve a very practical purpose of enabling the handful of dancers to take a well-earned breather but also provide an outlet for the pair’s mischievous, Pythonesque humour. One such film encompassed spoof news footage with Michael Nunn almost too cheesy-real as the slick newsman broadcasting from the New York streets, complete with a microphone cover stuck on his thumb! The humour is OK but it’s the informative element of the video diaries that works best. Watching the gpd team working with Bill Forsythe in Frankfurt and listening to Chris Wheeldon explain how his headmaster outed his ballet prowess to the entire school when he had managed to keep it secret for so long were fascinating snippets interspersed with their work.

Wheeldon’s ‘Mesmerics’ is a 25-minute work choreographed onto a framework of hauntingly introspective string quartets by Philip Glass. This pas de cinque is completely responsive to the music with the quintet of dancers whirling sensuously in beautifully sculpted movement. Their images hung lingeringly in space, soulfully entwined with the beautiful tones created by Glass. It is a work that requires intense concentration to fully appreciate and it is perhaps a minute or two overlong for that reason alone.

The programme ends with Russell Maliphant’s award-winning ‘Broken Fall’ but, I’m sorry to say, not quite so brilliant here. It is an exhilarating piece in any event but it needs to be danced full-out, riskily and at the edge to achieve its full potential. At its premiere, Sylvie Guillem gave it that inner strength and daring. From the moment she strides onto the stage, she is in charge, even though it is her body that is in their hands. Monica Zamora lacked the same authority and certainty with momentary hesitations and less strident purpose. Somehow this slightly diminished confidence transferred itself to the Boyz (particularly Michael Nunn) whose partnering, so assured at the Royal Opera House, seemed markedly less certain here. Unsurprisingly, it wasn’t until her long closing solo that Monica seemed to relax into a controlled and confident performance.

Although it has been heavily criticised, I am warming to Barry Adamson’s diverse and multi-faceted score, which perfectly underpins the Maliphant choreography that preceded it.

This is a fascinating exhibition of three of the best choreographers at work today by a company that has a strong enough identity to have had these important works made on it and the courage to continually search out and present new work

From London, George Piper Dances move onto Richmond Theatre (29/30 March), Warwick Arts Centre (21/22 April), The Lowry (14/15 May), Snape Maltings Concert Hall (21/22 May), Edinburgh Festival Theatre (8 June), Queens Theatre, Barnstaple (23 June), Brighton Dome (1 July) and Norwich’s Theatre Royal (16 July). It is a “must-see” programme, particularly since it may be some time before we can see George Piper Dancing again.