Australian Ballet does not come to London very often, so full marks to the company for bringing a programme that doesn’t play safe or even familiar. With its staging of Léonide Massine’s Les Présages the visitors present a precious piece of European dance history that we wouldn’t otherwise see. And, through their collaboration with Bangarra Dance Theatre, they give us something uniquely Australian, an aboriginal Rite of Spring.

Les Présages, which opens this double bill, is a wonderful opportunity to appreciate an extraordinary example of 1930s choreography. As reconstructed by Tatiana Leskova, Massine’s first symphonic ballet (it’s set to Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony) is a fascinating marriage of thematic passion and choreographic invention. Using four movements (Action, Passion, Frivolity and War and Peace) to illustrate Man’s struggle with fate, it’s obviously influenced by the alarming politics of its day (Hitler in Germany, Stalin in Russia) and the expressionist daring of modern dance.

The architecture of the choreography is incredibly vigorous, the way Massine fractures the large ensemble into individualistic groupings is a lesson today’s choreographers would do well to heed. The ballet’s emotions are carved with lucid and clear intention, the soloists soar and the regimentation is thrilling. The company perform with absolute commitment, especially in the antiwar ending.

Rites is a far newer work (from 1997), but draws on “30,000 years of indigenous culture”. Choreographed by Stephen Page of Bangarra Dance Theatre (to Stravinsky’s iconic score) it unites the dancers of Bangarra and Australian Ballet in a work of resonant power and adventurous stylistic contrasts. Page’s feral ballet, “an exploration of the natural forces that determine Australia’s ancient landscape”, provides rituals for earth, wind, fire and water and moves between red-hot rage and cool-blue calm.

It “awakens” with the dancers crawling, lizard-like in the desert, and never loosens its hold on the thrust and inevitability of its progress. The choreography either drives itself into the ground (the indigenous influence) or emerges upright (like classical ballet) in a kind of spiritual victory. Unlike most Rite stagings, which focus on one sacrificial victim, Page’s ballet taps into the universal heritage of primitive culture. The performances from both troupes are outstanding.

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