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From the first, Bourne taps into the modern obsession with celebrity, updating Wilde’s gothic melodrama to the dug-addled and shallow world of advertising and fashion. Dorian- danced with a subtle intensity by Richard Winsor- is almost an innocent, swept up into a world beyond his understanding, but he quickly learns to indulge his vices. As Bourne rightly points out, the homosexuality is neither surprising nor shocking, but it does provide Winsor and Aaron Sillis (as Dorian’s mentor and lover Basil) with a series of remarkably passionate pas de deux that skip between literal and poetic eroticism.

Throughout the production, Bourne has eschews the spectacular, keeping a rapid pace and ensuring absolute precision from his perfect company. The almost constantly rotating stage shifts the scenes, allowing private glimpses of Dorian’s life as the party still rages next door. The first act, which is narrative driven and sets out the basis for Dorian’s decline- and the first appearance of his evil Doppelganger (Jared Hageman)- showcases the casual brilliance of New Adventures’ corps de ballet. Despite their exactitude and mastery, they still evince a relaxed atmosphere, perfectly in tune with the hip society they represent. And while Winsor is rarely called upon to execute dramatic leaps or lifts, his taut performance adds an uneasy edginess to proceedings.

Terry Davies' score has a raucous jazz-rock energy- owing a debt to bands like Battles, it pushes the action forward and unsettles. When the second act begins, and Dorian is plunged into disco culture, it quotes techno and awkward time signatures, compelling Dorian deeper into insanity and violence. Like a warning siren, the music is encompassing, full of foreboding but flexible and vibrant. It is perfect accord with Bourne’s choreography.

Michela Meazza (Lady H) and Richard Winsor(Dorian Gray) in Dorian Gray
© Bill Cooper

The second act takes time to explore thematic concerns. A parody of Jonathan Ross, the references to Hirst, the heroin chic: Bourne hits his targets, mocking the apparatus of celebrity in detail. Dorian is almost powerless at the centre of these forces: his evil twin, who emerges fully after Dorian murders Cyril, becomes an elegant expression both of his corruption, but also the photographic image that has contained their sins. The final flight into terror has paranoia and ferocity. The death- if hardly tragic- has an inescapable inevitability and the choreography captures its brutality.

Bourne keeps his style on a short leash, preferring tension to expansiveness. The speed of each set change, the versatility of the cast, even the explicit sensuality all combine to emphasise the strong narrative. Bourne has harnessed the expressionism of ballet to an immediacy that recalls musicals- although the total impact of the lighting, costume and music comes from a willingness to include more experimental approaches.