The Chronicles is described as a reflection on hope and it certainly starts that way. By its end a quite different mood prevails. Early explosions of vitality give way to introspection, disruption and finally a kind of flailing, winding down.

The image of birth that starts The Chronicles is mirrored with one of death at the end. This piece of visual symmetry has its satisfactions. It refers back to the beginning and is an act of completion. It appeals to our apparently hard-wired need to discern a pattern. In between, though, it’s more difficult to get a clean grasp on choreographer Stephanie Lake’s intent and therefore to be fully engaged and moved.

The Chronicles. Photo © Jacqui Manning

The Chronicles at first touches on the joys of being together, seen in early, explosive comings and goings. How many ways can a dozen people cross a stage from side to side? Lake has a big bag of possibilities. The dancers look springy and exhilarating as they gallop, hop, glide, run amusingly and leap to and fro in exuberant flurries.

Lake likes to throw flickers of social and folk dance into her muscular group...