I am even less an expert on ballet than I am on gardening, but I certainly enjoy watching it. What human bodies are capable of is truly astonishing. Natalia Osipova and Ivan Vasiliev are two of ballet’s stars, formerly of the Bolshoi and also formerly an offstage couple. Their partnership was beautiful, astonishing, and clearly very intimate.

The evening consisted of three modern works separated by two intervals. The first work was a piece called Mercy by Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, based on two previous pas de deux. It was a dark way to begin the evening, drawing on themes of violence and domestic abuse. However, what was initially done to Osipova was also done to Vasiliev, and the piece had a sort of terrible beauty. It was also the piece with the most astonishing displays of flexibility and the sheer elegance of what the dancers were conveying was sometimes difficult to believe.

The second piece, by Ohad Naharin, was called Passo, and drew on English and Scottish folk music. The dancing was again very lovely, albeit perhaps more acrobatic than elegant. It was certainly a crowd-pleaser, drawing one of the larger ovations of the evening.

The final piece, by Arthur Mita, was called Facada. It was the most narrative of the pieces and used traditional Portuguese music. The story involved a jilted bride, and made excellent use of the costumes and flowers. Osipova was in turns petulant, coquettish, grieving and passionate. Vasiliev matched her beautifully, with some welcome humour thrown in.

I cannot pretend to have any great technical knowledge of the dancing, but it was clearly outstanding and very moving. It’s only on for a few days, but do try to go if you can.