Jenni Large promises “equal parts grim and glam” in her new work for Australian Dance Theatre. Half that description is true. Faraway is exceptionally glam.

There’s much to admire in every department. Anna Whitaker’s smartly modulated score takes a sophisticated journey ranging from the gentle call of romance to thumping night-club cool. Alex Berlage, who is a fine director as well as a sought-after lighting designer, bathes the stage in an otherworldly haze. Meg Wilson offers monochrome chic in her barely-there costume design and sparse forest of hanging vines.

The gorgeous bodies of seven ADT dancers animate this visual and aural beauty with supreme grace and lofty emotional distance.

Joshua Doctor and Yilin Kong in Faraway. Photo © Jonathan VDK

The dream world promised by choreographer Jenni Large is apparent everywhere. The “fetishistic exorcism”? Not really. There isn’t enough urgency to merit that description.

Faraway does include representations of sexual desire and fulfilment but they look neat and tidy. Tame. The costuming is bondage as style (it looks fabulous) so when that bondage is stripped away it’s not cathartic – just a canny style choice. The only hint of the avowed nightmares is a fairly short scene that may have been inspired by the horror film The Blob.

Faraway engages the senses through the splendidly elegant presence of the dancers as they skip in an ingenious scene, tumble, pose, twirl, use ropes in impressive displays of strength and, yes, hump one another and the floor, but this is watching, not feeling.

Zoe Wozniak, Yilin Kong and Karra Nam in Faraway. Photo © Jonathan VDK

Admiration is a given. Intense human connection missing, except for a skerrick at the end when dancers climb towards the heavens. It’s a sentimental image and not a new one but it does give the heart a little tug.

Large is a highly experienced dance-maker with a sure instinct for how to move a dancer and shape a scene. She’s also a provocateur who seems to have suppressed much of that aspect of her art for Faraway. It’s too polite, though really glamorous.

Faraway is at The Odeon, Adelaide, until March 1. An Adelaide Festival event.