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School performances can be hit and miss; they often lack the polish of an established company. This is just one of the many reasons that I like dance school productions. Too often, performances are too perfect; the dancers on stage don't look real. Watching young dancers at the peak of their physical condition is always a pleasure; a bunch of perfect bodies which have yet to suffer the ravages of time, unlike the wreck that I inhabit.

The production got off to a bit of slow start, as the full overture (on CD) played with the curtains open. Seeing a naked set is never a good idea, but this may have just happened at this theatre. The set consists of a full width elevated balcony, with a set of stairs on either side. Sometimes these stairs were tipped vertically to indicate a different location. As the opening scenes unfolded, the young ladies of the school danced as gypsies and townsfolk . There are no male pupils at the school, so several guest artists were drafted in; David Horn as Mercutio, Todd Fox as Benvolio, Alexander Gallacher as Tybalt and Oleg Kozhanov as Paris. Each gave a performance worthy of their professional status.

The star-crossed lovers were danced by the two leading members of the company, Sarah-Marie Barton and Jonathon Barton. This brother and sister display a confidence in pdd work that only comes after many years of dancing together. They know exactly where each other are in space and exploit this to the full, especially during the balcony pdd. There is no doubting that Miss Barton is Juliet; she protrays the innocence with great aplomb. I found Mr Barton less convincing as Romeo; one cannot deny his superb technique but he did not seem to be besotted with Juliet. The aforementioned balcony pdd was the full box of tissue jobbie - very moving and very steamy.

The cast maintained good eye-contact with each other during the Montagues & Capulets ball scene; I've always felt that the audience are mere observers and the dancers should barely acknowledge us during the performance. The ballroom scene was very regal. Lord and Lady Montague (Misha Botting and Gemma Chidlow) displaying real lorded elegance.

Act II opened with very high energy dancing from the gypsies - Sarah Donnelly, Rachael Drummond and Jessica Lee - I think these are second & third year students. Their traditional gypsy costumes with white frilly underskirts and with pink and brown coin and sequined trimmed frocks, displaying their charms to the full. There were three very good scenes in act II, all of which followed very closely together. I very much liked the four clowns with large jester heads on sticks. They arrived to entertain the crowd in the square and their brightly coloured costumes in red, blue and yellow are very cheery. The dancers looked like there were enjoying being able to ham it up a little.

Good sword play from the chaps, especially the final duel between Mercutio and Tybalt. The crowd milling in the background looked like they were really getting into this. My only complaint was the usual OTT death scene from Mercutio - I do tire of seeing this scene always played in the same manner, and I wish that he would just cark it!

The other scene that I liked in act II was the lily dancers, Juliet is lying on her bed, having been betrothed to Paris. Her friends arrive, each with a long lily. The six dancers displayed grace and beauty and effortlessly moved. The simple things are often the best.

Interesting departure from the usual ending - after Romeo stabs himself in the catafalque and Juliet recovers from her potion, she runs to him and finds him still kicking. Thus the lovers have a brief reunion in life before the eternal reunion in death.

A very sterling effort from this inexperienced group of dancers. They are not a company as such and lacking the stage experience that life with a company brings. Despite this, the dancers entertained and delighted the audience. I wish all of them well in their future careers and I look forward to seeing the dancers again in the future working in major ballet companies.