PUSH

Heading out for an evening at Sadler's Wells yesterday, I was hardly expecting to fall in love. I was simply trudging along to join the masses of Guardian touting Islington Blairites to what was reputed to be the wonder dance bill of the year: PUSH. And did it deliver.

Sylvie Guillem is an extraordinary dancer and Russell Maliphant one of Europe's trendiest choreographers. His work challenges her body and her brain; therein laying the root of my newfound love for the pair. There's a solo for her, a solo for him, another solo for her, then a duet. No sets, no live music, no special effects other than lighting, yet the cumulative effect is as sophisticated as one could wish. This is intimate stuff, even in the vastness of Sadler's Wells. People were jammed shoulder-to-shoulder and all you could hear was a holding of breath (and slurpings of Sauvignon).

The climax comes with the finale - the duet. In the rapt opening moments it's clear the mood will be proud and sensuous, a meeting of strangers as equals. Guillem crouches and uncoils her body down the length of Maliphant's back, and just at that moment the sound score hints at an ancient world, and I suddenly saw the pair as Helen of Troy and Paris.

If there was ever a time appropriate for the word 'sinuous', this was it. The potent duet that suggests many kinds of relationship - marital, artistic, sacred - lays bare the elements of trust both physically and emotionally that all relationships require.

As Annie Lennox sang: "Sweet dreams are made of this."
Who am I to disagree?

Push
Sadler's Wells
Until 25 March
Book here, Tickets £13-£40