ISN'T it sensational when dreams become reality? Britain's premier touring dance company's second visit to Durham City's Gala certainly awakens the promise of spring buds and the first signs of summer blossom for the venue.

Interestingly, this tour debuts choreographer Michael Kopinski's work, Dumbarton Oaks, based on moths drawn towards light.

Wisely, after the sobriety of Kopinski, the classical, and demanding work of Frederick Ashton's Monotone II - with Asta Bazeviciute, Jonathan Caguioa and Valentin Olovyannikov - and Balachine's 1972 Duo Concertant, debuted here by Elisha Willis and Robert Parker, build towards a fiery conclusion. Hans van Manen's Latin American-based Five Tangos has been a crowd-pleaser for BRB since 1991 with its hint of danger and the intensity of involvement for principals Iain Mackay and Asta Bazeviciute.

There is no prospect of this quartet of pieces failing to please and an all-too-brief three-stop North-East and York tour finishes at Durham tomorrow night before making full use of Middlesbrough Theatre's superb stage area on Saturday.

Viv Hardwick

l Box Office: Durham Gala Theatre 0191-332 4074, Middlesbrough Theatre (01642) 815181.

Published: 28/04/2005