Founded by the visionary choreographer Peter Darrell in 1969, Scottish Ballet is currently celebrating its 40th anniversary. This major UK tour features a trilogy of diverse works which neatly spans four decades.
To kick off the evening it's a truly glittering affair. "Rubies" is part of a full length ballet "Jewels" by the renowned New York City Ballet superstar, George Balanchine.
The starting point is the deliciously decadent jazz age score, Stravinksy's Capriccio for piano and orchestra. The ensemble's initial horseshoe formation receives a rousing applause, no doubt for the chorus line of rich ruby-red costumes with bejewelled tassels, which sparkle in the light with the dancers' movement.
Blending classical ballet steps with Broadway musical dance routines, the energy is up beat and fast paced, switching in style and tempo between the perfected en pointe arabesque to free flowing skipping, trotting and tango-esque duets.
Celebratory, light hearted and fun, this was the perfect curtain raiser for the occasion.
William Forsythe's cool, classy, neo-classical, "Workwithinwork" (1973) is performed to Duetti for two violins by Berio. On a black box stage, sixteen dancers, dressed in sparkly purple, grey, green and pink with black shorts, juxtapose graceful balletic technique with jazzy moves, wide arm waves and high kicks.
Dancers emerge and disappear in and out of the darkness from back stage; the mood shifts with subtle lighting changes echoing movement from slow duets to statuesque pauses.
Two girls dressed in green like identical twins, perform a slow, sensual duet. Berio's strident strings create a hauntingly beautiful score, while the choreography fits the music with split second timing, as neat as a pair of elegant, tight black evening gloves.
To end the evening, "In Light and Shadow", by Polish choreographer Krzysztof Pastor, which was given its UK premier by Scottish Ballet in 2006.
The gloriously spiritual Bach score (Goldberg Variations and Suite No 3 in D), sets the tone while the artistic set and glamorous costumes give the impression of a Milan designer fashion catwalk: men and women wear long swirling kilt-like skirts or layered punky short dresses - shimmering fabrics of taffeta and silk in gold, silver, bronze with two solo splashes of red and yellow.
The colour, music and processional lines of movement create a spectacular, sleek and sexy showcase for the ensemble. Breathtaking and utterly hypnotic.
In Row A of the Dress circle sat a girl called Eilidh, a teenager of about 16 or 17 who had travelled to Edinburgh from Forfar to see Scottish Ballet. She was totally mesmerised and no wonder - this was her first experience of seeing a live dance performance in a theatre. Her verdict? - absolutely brilliant!. 40 years on, Scottish Ballet is a world class company continuing to inspire dance lovers of all ages. Happy Birthday!
Times: EFT 15 - 17 October; His Majesty's Aberdeen, 23 - 24 October; Eden Court Inverness, 30 - 31 October.