Jane Eyre

Founded in 1969, and now based in Leeds, Northern Ballet has, over more than 50 years, earned an enviable reputation for its narrative led dance productions. Last year, Norwich Theatre audiences were treated to visiting productions of both Romeo & Juliet and A Christmas Carol, and the company returns this week with Cathy Marston's production of Jane Eyre, based on Charlotte Brontë's 19th century novel of power and turbulent passion, and set on the windswept Yorkshire moors.

It is a two act ballet that closely follows the twists and turns of the novel, and opens with a brief prologue in which a mysterious woman is seen running across the moors, only to collapse and be carried to the home of a rescuer and his sisters. The screens then open to reveal the childhood house of the orphan Jane Eyre, and the story begins.

Young Jane (Aerys Merrill) appears briefly, but is quickly supplanted in Act 1 by adult Jane, danced with exquisite grace and elegance, and including some awesome pointe work, by Osaka-born Saeka Shirai. She is partnered tonight by a handsome Harris Beattie, dancing the part of wealthy, and apparently eligible, landowner Edward Rochester. Beattie's physical strength and poise has, in the past, also seen him play Billy Elliott in the West End, and he was previously partnered with Shirai in last year's Northern Ballet production of Romeo & Juliet.

As the beautifully painted monochrome screens (designed, along with the costumes by Patrick Kinmonth), which so capture the raw wildness of the moors, part and slide into position, the stage is magically transformed from orphanage to the Reverend Brocklehurst's Lowood Institution, and finally into Thornfield Hall. The lighting and minimal props successfully create the atmosphere, but never distract from the dance sequences. The elegant musical score, composed by Northern Ballet's musical director Philip Feeney, is played by a live band led by him. It is period specific, and has a score that at times reminds of Erik Satie's Gnossiennes. It is so much more atmospheric than a pre-recorded soundtrack, and should never to be taken for granted in these cash-strapped days of slashed arts budgets and reduced commercial sponsorships. And Alistair West's lighting design absolutely comes into its own during those dramatic fire sequences.

With a typically convoluted Brontë plotline, and obviously no dialogue to follow, it might pay to refresh one's memory if it is some time since you last read Jane Eyre. However, for those of us who have loved and adored the story for years, this ballet version is simply a treat for the eyes and ears from start to finish. Cathy Marston's own directorial additions, like her 'd-men' male dancers whose presence is constantly pulling Jane back, and who block her way every time that she attempts to assert her presence, are pure brilliance. As are Jane's subtle gestures of frustration – a clenched fist here, or a subtle stamping of the foot there, expressed as patriarchal traditions strive to thwart her own determination to improve her position and respect. We all know how it ends, and if you do not, you are not going to find a plot-spoiler here.