Resolution!

The Place, London WC1

4 Stars

If the new dance works that opened this year's Resolution! dance festival are anything to go by, the rest of the programme of premiere productions should be filled with riveting personal and social statements.

This annual showcase of contemporary dance provides an open season for short live works by emerging choreographers and there are different, unique programmes at each performance.

Lea Tirabasso's choreography for Simones, which opened the first evening, was startling and not without shock value. Within minutes, the dancers challenged any audience expectancy that they'd be in for an easy ride.

A graphic piece, Simones includes a confrontational study of women giving birth which definitely challenges conformist views of what dance can or cannot include.

Switching from moments of art brut theatre to fiercely eloquent dance in Tirabasso's thrilling primordial solo, it's a powerful exploration which goes against stereotypes of womanhood.

In similarly realistic vein, Fill In The Blanks, choreographed by Ashley Hind, references the clash between alienation and freedom rooted in technological development, played out here by the six dancers in separate, closed spaces bound by their hand-held personal device.

That sense of isolation surfaces too in the brilliant Oh, Glory! choreographed by James Finnemore (pictured), whose themes of separation are embedded at the core of its high-intensity choreography.

Tender moments of reciprocal disjuncture emerge between Mikael Orozco - a sentinel presence - and the force of Pauline Rainer's agility and startling ability to switch movement and time in seamless changes either solo or when connecting with other dancers.

Finnemore's own duet with Orozco propelled the action forward in a cool and composed ferocity that pointed up the duality of aggression and retreat beautifully.

Stylish and concise, Oh, Glory! certainly marks Finnemore's arrival on the dance scene as a choreographer. One to watch out for in future.

Runs until February 15. Box office: (020) 7121-1100

Peter Lindley