Few buts in this If

Rave reviews. A South Bank Show profile. An 18-month tour to 20 countries - that's 20 countries, not cities. Even Akram Khan must be surprised at the success of Kaash, although the twenty-something choreographer might just take it all in his intelligent, focused and charismatic stride.

Anyone with the confidence to tackle the Hindu god of creation and destruction, and who can also corral the creative egos of Turner Prize winner Anish Kapoor (on design) and the Mercury Prize winner Nitin Sawhney (on music), probably isn't fazed by standing ovations and weak-kneed critics.

Khan looked as calm and sensuous as a cat when he returned to the QEH last night, 18 or so months after he first presented Kaash in London. But would it be as good as we remember? Would its tantalising mystery remain?

If anything, Kaash looked more impressive on re-seeing, more assured, more subtle. Part of the reason is the compatibility of the choreography, music and design. Sawhney's thundering percussion seems to carry to dancers on it waves, while Kapoor's phenomenal back curtain, with lighting by Aideen Malone, seems to fill our optic field with inky infinity, a literal and metaphoric black hole.

Meaning "if" in Hindi, Kaash begins with a single dancer alone on stage looking into the void. He's joined by four more, including Khan, and together they attack the choreography with stabbings as sharp as rifle shot.

Alone and in unison they move across the stage, quick and precise, and then they rotate like celestial spheres. And then they seem to blur, like fireworks on a black winter night.

The middle section is less strong, with caterwauling on the soundtrack and some over-moody solos. However, things pick up, with a stunning duet for Khan and Moya Michael and a thrilling closing sequence, with Inn Pang Ooi seeming to embrace, or maybe challenge, the void.

Khan's style has been called a fusion of Indian Kathak with European contemporary dance, but his work is more than the sum of its parts. Kaash is of its own. Little else acknowledges the mysteries while hiding the means of their telling.

The Akram Khan Company: Kaash