Dance Roundup A/W 2006: Royal Ballet Mixed Bill (Chroma/The Four Temperaments/DGV)

If there is just one performance to catch this year, then it's Royal Ballet's mixed bill. Never before have I been to a performance as exquisite as Chroma/The Four Temperaments/DGV.

Chroma, a new work by Random Dance's Wayne McGregor (the man with the bald pointy head), opens with a spare and minimal setting. White floor, white walls, white light. I'm sure there's a narrative, but as with most dance, it can be hard to extract. Four Temperaments by George Balanchine, wonderfully revived by the Royal Ballet. As more time goes by, Balanchine looks increasingly dated. I've no doubt it was once the avant-garde act of its time.

Then there's Danse a Grande Vitesse. It's like snow on Christmas Day. Music by Michael Nyman (Musique a grande vitesse, initially composed for the opening of France's high speed train. Nevermind that for now), it's a spectacular spectacular show. Nothing can top it. Not even Michael Clarke with his Sex Postols or T. Rex. Let's just say, with DGV you don't want the moment to end. And Darcy Bussell. When you see her dance, you realise why she's the principal. She's in a class of her own - no other dancer in the company comes anywhere close. Nyman's music builds the dance with one magnificently choreographed moment after another, building up to the last 5 minutes (DGV lasts 29 minutes), where the music soars into an incredibly moving moment where music, dancers, lighting and set become one.