A co-production of Ballet Rambert and The Royal Ballet, the oldest and most prestigious dance companies in the UK, the weird and wonderful Aisha and Abhaya juxtaposed film with live dance in a way which exposed divergence rather than coherence. 

The films are directed by Kibwe Tavares, the British filmmaker and architect behind the brilliant Robots of Brixton. They bracket rather than backdrop an extraordinary, if near unrelated dance piece, directed by award-winning Israeli choreographer Sharon Eyal. It is performed by seven dancers, each offering a fascinating mixed bag of anti-aestheticised precision movements as individuals and in group.

The piece was apparently inspired by the story of The Little Match Girl, by far Hans Christian Andersen’s grimmest fairy tale. What to make of the multitude of other references, it’s hard to say. Although Ori Lichtik and Gaika Tavares’s throbbing (and loud) electronic soundtrack provided essential structure, driving on an unforgettable if unfathomable work.