Homage to a dance master

Frederick Ashton was one of the great choreographers of the 20th century, but he has had little influence on modern-day dance makers. At least, that's the impression you get from Rambert's latest mixed bill.

It is a four-part programme with two Ashton works, well, one Ashton work and one remake, and two newish pieces by contemporary stepsmiths.

Admittedly, Ashton worked for Rambert only briefly at the start of his long career, and the company is much reincarnated since his time. Even so, the two styles are so different you wouldn't credit them to the same country, let alone the same company.

Take Linear Remains, by Rafael Bonachela, and Reflection, by Fin Walker. Both are plotless works with conspicuously athletic movement. Both sets of dancers wear track-style tops and pants, and they have unisex hair and expressions.

Ashton couldn't be more different. Five Brahms Waltzes and A Tragedy of Fashion depict human beings (Isadora Duncan and a deranged dress maker) with stories to tell. Their dancing draws on naturalist movement, and they wear everyday clothes, albeit with a little cross-dressing, and undressing, involved.

To their credit, the dancers performed all four pieces with enthusiasm, although they seemed more comfortable with Bonachela and Walker than Ashton.

Especially good was Walker's new Reflection, with its linked lines of tugging dancers who spin off and regroup like blobs of mercury. It is witty and playful, with Ben Park's jazzy score buzzing with energy.

Ian Spink's remake of Ashton's A Tragedy of Fashion feels like photos of the original - stylish, dramatic, and with a knowing eye for the sensual adventures, and sexual ambiguity, of a couturier and his clients.

The latter rejects his dresses, and he kills himself with his scissors. Ho-ho.

Some of the action looked muddled, as did some of the dancers. Still, much was amusing, especially the spoofing of planet fashion, and there were nice shoes by Manolo Blahnik. The set was also clever, a stage-high jacket and skirt which came undone like the clothes on stage.

Overall, an imaginative tribute to Ashton in his centenary year, and credit again to Rambert for getting its Ashton oar in early.