It was one of those moments. After two hours of extraordinary dancing from the French company Ballet Preljocaj, the impulse was to stand and applaud. And yet, the final scene of this Swan Lake was one that pinned you to your seat. What to do?

So we sat, we clapped (extra hard), just a little stunned. I don’t think many realised there had been an opening night confetti drop until they were walking out of the theatre.

Completely re-choreographed and with the original story reworked into a more contemporary frame, Angelin Preljocaj’s Swan Lake sets the tale in a bleak present (minimally conjured in a box set whose walls serve as video screens) in which the regal has given way to the corporate.

Ballet Preljocaj’s Swan Lake. Photo © David Kelly

The plot its recognisable with Siegfried (danced by Antoine Dubois on opening night; he shares the role with Leonardo Cremaschi) still falling in love with the cursed Odette (Théa Martin/Mirea Delogu), a woman turned into a swan by her sorcerer father, Rothbart (Redi Shtylla/Elliot Bussinet). Siegfried is no prince though. Here, he...