Scottish Ballet is in party mood. Not only is the company celebrating its 40th birthday this year, it also recently moved into a new purpose-built headquarters at the Tramway international arts centre in Glasgow, where it has the space to create new work and expand its education and outreach programmes. And on the opening night of a short London season to kick off its autumn anniversary tour, the company even gave away a silver ballet shoe charm and bracelet to one lucky member of the audience.

So hats off to Ashley Page for choosing an anniversary triple bill of abstract ballets that stretch the company’s artistic boundaries and showcase its diversity, qualities that have been the hallmark of his eclectic directorship.

Opening with Balanchine’s Rubies (1967), a work that demands cutting edge energy and a jazzy insouciance, was, however, a calculated risk. Page’s troupe lacks the classical precision that Balanchine’s spiky choreography requires, and its vivacious New York glamour is something that also doesn’t sit easy, so you got the impression that the ballet was constantly one step ahead of them. Still, Sophie Martin and Adam Blyde managed a likeable partnership as the lead couple — her gamine charm is especially appealing — though Vassilissa Levtonova didn’t have a clue as the Amazonian cheerleader who leads the ballet’s frolicsome ensemble.

Performances got stronger as the evening progressed. William Forsythe’s Workwithinwork (1998) may be too long and monochromatic and its recorded Berio score anything but friendly, yet Scottish Ballet’s 16 dancers clearly responded to its squirming, edgy hyperarticulation and arching fluidity. Like it or not, Forsythe’s pure dance choreography, which pushes dancers beyond their safe zones, acts as a shot in the arm to the physical demands of the classical technique.

Krzysztof Pastor made In Light and Shadow for Dutch National Ballet nine years ago, but so well do Scottish Ballet dance it that you would think it had been made for them. Set to excerpts from Bach’s Goldberg Variations and Suite No 3 — music (well played by the Scottish Ballet Orchestra) that just begs to be danced — Pastor’s ballet for 18 begins with a handsome duet for Martin and Blyde that offers no hint of the presentational flair and rapturous elegance that follows in the ensemble work. The whole is beautifully lit by Bert Dalhuysen and has a subtle architectural set by Tatyana van Walsum.

By turns reflective and ecstatic, In Light and Shadow also brought out strongly individual qualities in each of its fine performers. If anything shows how far Scottish Ballet has come under Page’s leadership during the past seven years, it’s this lovely and compelling ballet.

Theatre Royal, Glasgow, Oct 8-10; Festival Theatre, Edinburgh, Oct 15-17; His Majesty’s, Aberdeen, Oct 23-24

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