Revenge and torment come to the fore in MacMillan’s Sea of Troubles, inspired by Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Relationships are explored in sharp, stylised scenes as each character is haunted by a ghost and their own guilt.

Performed for the first time in the UK, Silhouette is a joyful study in black and white of composer Francis Poulenc’s Concert Champêtre in this, the 50th anniversary year of his death. Degas-styled dancers present clear, crisp lines in this multi-levelled journey from darkness into light. It is an exuberant celebration of ballet at its most timelessly classic.

This double-bill of Sea of Troubles and Silhouette replaces Édouard Lock: World Premiere (2013). Due to family illness, Édouard Lock’s new work, which was to form part of Dance Odysseys, has been cancelled.

Praise for Sea of Toubles

An impressively austere and laconic Hamlet, Mark Monahan says "let yourself sink into the swelling sense of panic and dread... performances full of personality and physical zest let this coldly beautiful piece come alive" - The Telegraph

"much more than a stopgap piece of programming... an episodic jigsaw of love, guilt and death where time is out of joint" - The Herald

Praise for Silhouettes

Hailed as bold and promising, old meets new in Silhouettes, a work of contrast and alternations which "weaves hip-jutting modernity into an outwardly classical, tutu-filled template" - The Telegraph

"a tremendous reminder of how gloriously elegant, merry and timeless the classic ballet tradtitions can be" - The Herald