I saw London City Ballet's Momentum in Birmingham and it was expressive beyond belief

London City Ballet’s latest tour to Birmingham Rep is inviting for many reasons. Along with a guest spot from acclaimed ballet dancer Alina Cojocaru, the Momentum show includes a UK premiere and art-themed spectacle with works by Kandinsky.

It’s sadly a brief visit with the dance company staying in Birmingham for only two nights until tonight(Wednesday, July 30). I caught the opening night of Momentum at Birmingham Rep theatre, where dancers took the audience on an emotional journey through four different routines.

It’s an impressive show that builds up to a playful, colourful dance featuring stunning Kandinsky works of art as backdrops. It also gives audiences the chance to see up close acclaimed Romanian ballerina Alina Cojocaru, formerly of The Royal Ballet and English National Ballet.

Momentum opens with a revival of a George Balanchine choreographed work that was thought lost. Haieff Divertimento is being performed in the UK for the first time and is filled with difficult moves and beautiful lifts. There’s the tell-tale choreography and style of Balanchine, often romantic and highly technical, all played out in front of a bright blue backdrop.

There’s more beautiful emotive movement in relationship-themed pieces Consolations and Liebestraum and Soft Shore, which both follow before the interval.

With a bare stage and simple clothing, it makes the dancers and their movements all the more pronounced. Dressed in all black for Consolations and Liebestraum, it charts the stages of a relationship from first love and passion to the grief of it being over. Liam Scarlett’s choreography pulls at the heart-strings.

Star ballet dancer Cojocaru features in the final section and really stands out for her ability.

She makes the anguish and torture feel so acute in her gestures. Cojocaru won’t be performing at venues in the EU on the London City Ballet tour, so it’s a real treat to catch such talent on stage in the UK.

Soft Shore, created by Florent Melac, is a moody, atmospheric section set to dramatic classical music by Beethoven featuring several soulful pas de deux full of athletism and poise ahead of the interval.

After the break, the mood is lifted with the most fun performance of the evening. Pictures Of An Exhibition was created for New York City Ballet in 2014 and is a cheerful, vibrant and imaginative piece.

Dancers seem to be the emotions and paint of several Kandinsky paintings, which are displayed as backdrops.

It's stunning and vivid throughout and cleverly choreographed by Alexei Ratmansky to match the circles and lines in the drawings. It’s a light and breezy finale to the show.

American-Ukranian Ratmansky, who grew up in Kiev, has added a final brief section displaying the blue and yellow of the Ukrainian flag called the ‘The Great Gates of Kyiv’ to the ending in honour of his country’s heroism.

There is exquisite dancing, stunning lifts and amazing talent to be seen in Momentum and a fascinating show for both dance and art enthusiasts alike.

It's expressive dancing at its best. Yet it’s only on for one more night in Birmingham and my advice is to catch the show while you can.

Tickets for Momentum from Birmingham Rep website here cost from £16.50. The show is around 1h 40mins including an interval.