WITHIN one minute of the opening act of the Birmingham Royal Ballet’s programme, you know you are in for a real treat.

The company (formally the Sadler’s Wells Royal Ballet) is recognised as a major international force in the world of classical dance and this performance demonstrated clearly why that is.

Last night at The Wycombe Swan there was not only silent appreciation and polite applause from the audience, but audible gasps of wonder and amazement at the skill of the dancers.

The programme for the evening was ambitiously varied and complicated enough to require two intervals.

The opening act, ‘Lyric Pieces’, performed to the classical piano music of Edvard Grieg, was an example of modern ballet at its best. It eloquently expressed a whole range of human experience and emotion through a series of individual, paired and ensemble dances, including loneliness, love and playful creativity.

The lighting and set design for this piece was an integral part of the performance; some ingenious concertina fan-like props were used by the dancers to create clever backdrops for the dancers and make transitions between dances seamless.

The middle part of the programme contained some dances from different ballets, including a beautiful, romantic ‘pas de deux’ to the wonderful flute music, ‘Pavane’, by Faure. The excerpts from ‘Giselle’ and ‘Don Quixote’ were also excellent, particularly the latter which included some dangerously fast and demanding spins – true crowd pleasers.

The final act was a real surprise for an art form that is normally perceived as being quite serious; a ballet called ‘Pineapple Poll’, based on the music and poetry of Gilbert and Sullivan.

This story of a handsome naval Captain and the trinket seller who falls in love with him, along with half the ladies in town who then dress as sailors in order to get close to him, was very funny indeed and had many laugh out loud moments.

This was a wonderful evening that showed how absorbing, and accessible, ballet can be; you would have to go quite far in order to experience anything better than this.

This is the first time that this company has performed at the Swan theatre, but hopefully it won’t be the last. I will certainly be looking out for any future performances.

There are two performances at the Wycombe Swan today, Wednesday, May 22, at 2.30pm and 7.30pm. Tickets cost £18.50, £21.50, £25.50 (Friends £2.00 off Concessions £2.50 off School Groups £8.50).