Mature new Resolution

The other woman is so much talked about that we often overlook the other man. He's generally not as good looking as his female equivalent, and he usually says a lot less, but that just makes him more interesting. That, and his transgression of the old code of honour about not messing with another man's wife.

These are themes that interest Sarah Fahie, the young choreographer who on Monday opened this year's Resolution! festival for fledgling dance makers. Fugue For A Furnished Flat is an intense study of "le homme", a passionate and distracted Antonio Caporilli, the daytime lover of a married woman (Fahie), and her husband's best friend. She rents a flat for their afternoon trysts, and the seduction is painful and passionate.

This is grown-up stuff and Fahie deserves credit for handling it with sophistication and subtlety. Her means are a combination of speech, acting and choreography; he speedily nimble, she with luxurious poise.

Fugue was part of a "best of" drawn from last year's Resolution! and festival director John Ashford re-booked his three favourite choreographers, and Fahie easily merits the return visit. However, Jean Abreu's inclusion is less convincing. Hibrido is a duet for him and Natasha Gilmore, both stellar performers with Protein Dance, which specialises in sharp-witted dance-theatre. Both seem less well suited to Hibrido's pure-dance mix of Brazilian capoeira and western contemporary moves.

Another problem is that the choreographer Russell Maliphant has cleaned up on the capoeira front, his stunning duets for the Ballet Boyz putting Abreu in the shade.

Maliphant's male duets also sprung to mind on Monday during Gildas Diquero's closing piece. Aftermath is another intense pas de deux for two men locked in an emotional conflict that spills into violence.

This isn't everyone's cup of tea, nor is the gnomic voice-scape that accompanies the piece. However, Aftermath is striking theatre. A good start, then, to this year's Resolution!, although Tuesday's triple bill left you feeling less confident. It featured Jonathan Megaw's awesomely bad Ambiguity, a naff, amateurish, Chorus Line-style take on the power games between choreographer and dancers.

The latter were an all-girl quintet, with too much make-up and not enough talent.

Better was Sally Marie's From Mum To Mum From Me, a quirky stand-up style portrayal of a dance wannabe who clearly was never gonna be. Also promising was Louise Barrett and her fetchingly titled troupe Pretty Good Girl Dance Theatre. Barrett's style is still rough hewn, but she has a brain, and her 30-odd performers look able and committed.