The master at play

Once in a while dance hits you in the gut, spitting out a crackling rush that lifts you to the edge of your seat. Such is the visceral thrill of Michael Clark's giddy whirl through The Beatles' Back In The USSR.

A one-off creation for this London run, this is Clark at his best, his off-kilter, deconstructed ballet hitting the stage running and never letting up. In the middle of it all are Clark and Baryshnikov, two modern dance masters, having a ball as they rip out the steps.

Yet while Clark's contribution to this set of six dance pieces is the highlight, this is Baryshnikov's night. That, at 56, the man can get away with wearing tight red knickers is a credit to a lifetime's dance training, and he leaves no doubt that he's still in top form.

Not all the material matches his talent, but the opening half, danced in tune to pianist Pedja Muzijevic, opens with Cesc Gelabert's moody In A Landscape. Here Baryshnikov never overplays his hand - this is not about grandstanding, it's about reflecting the spirit of the individual through movement, not dance for its own sake.

Not that playing Carrie's squeeze in Sex And The City hasn't rubbed off; there are moments when Baryshnikov hams it up, the white boy blues of Eliot Feld's Mr XYZ being a case in point.

Until Sun, Barbican, Silk Street EC2, 7.30pm, £10 to £35 (returns only). Tel: 0845 120 7550. www.barbican.org.uk Tube: Barbican/Moorgate

Solos With Piano Or Not..An Evening With Mikhail Baryshnikov