Rambert Dance Company: Awakenings Tour 2011

Rambert Dance Company have long been considered the most vital contemporary dance company in the country. Tonight, Edinburgh's Festival Theatre audience were treated to a performance which affirmed this.

The centrepiece and opening 'ballet' of tonight's performance is Awakenings, based on the writings of cult psychiatrist Dr Oliver Sacks. The power of Sacks' prose both inspired the piece and informed its subject matter – a neurological condition known as 'sleepy sickness'. Sufferers seem stuck in time, unable to move at all, unless compelled by music. One of Ramberts' great strengths is that their musical accompaniment comes from a dedicated orchestra, giving the performances a satisfying completeness. The stark, claustrophobic 'frozen' chords which open Awakenings display this excellently. The dancers respond with an air of painfully restraining repression.

The dancers, like the music, move in discordant pairs, jerkily contorting together and then branching off defiantly until they are cut short by the sound which defines their landscape. Both orchestra and dancers develop this theme brilliantly, particularly Mark Kimmett, who dances energetically and engagingly to Tobias Picker's enthralling score.

Tim Rushton, choreographer of the second piece,  writes that Monolith is about 'places of monumental greatness and the people who formed them'. Peteris Vasks' gorgeous and haunting quartet accompaniment gives the piece an effective heaviness. The company bends in unison with strain in their muscles, the result is both powerful and moving, especially when contrasted with the abstract, alienating absurdity of the first piece.

Cardoon Clud brings yet another dimension to the evening. A dark, comic, stylised pastiche, it's an excellent end to the night. American blues, 70s kitsch, and jazz styles are all excellently melded to great effect by the orchestra, guitarist Ben Barritt and drummer Robert Millett. Michael Howells' brilliant cinematic design is also of particular note. Lit by a warm television glow from the back wall and framed by a curtain of glass beads on all sides, the stage came to life around the dancers, responding to their movements. Choreographed by Henrietta Horn, it's a piece which combines the dancers' individual strength and their intense collective power. In particular, Otis-Cameron Carr's atmospheric swagger was palpable.

Rambert Dance Company's technical brilliance, theatrical edge and uncompromising musical commitment make them near untouchable in terms of contemporary dance in this country today. This, combined with an excellent programme proved a rich, diverse and incredibly satisfying experience.