Theatre is such a diverse performance platform that it can catapult all kinds of work at an audience, and this is exactly what York Theatre Royal’s TakeOver Festival is all about. A fitting gesture, then, that it’s brought in the mesmerising Leeds-based Phoenix Dance Theatre Company into its eclectic mix of shows for the festival. The company put on an evening of three different dance shows, each of which deserves a whole review on its own. However, all of these shows are part of the company’s new Mixed Programme for 2014, so let’s have a look at them as a cohesive whole.

The first show that Phoenix offers us is one of its most-loved works, See Blue Through, choreographed by Didy Veldman and first performed in 2005. In this show, the company takes the audience into an unfamiliar underwater landscape, and conveys to us the vastly different emotions experienced by us in our desire for companionship. The dancers wear elastic costumes that allow them to propel each other across the stage in a series of slick, well-choreographed movements. These movements convey the emotional mindsets of the unknown characters that emerge over the course of the piece, and entrance the audience with the power of sheer fascination and wonder.

The second piece in the programme is called Document, choreographed and designed by Ivgi & Greben and first performed in February this year. Document is radically different from See Blue Through, as this time round the dancers don ragged, torn clothing and swap their slick choreography for sharp, jagged movements that unravel the story of the piece. They battle with the darker aspects of human emotion, conveying to us anger and blistering passion through a series of ominous routines that seek to explore the deepest, darkest crevices of the human psyche. There’s fluid choreography here, too, and Phoenix create a balanced, meaningful performance that grips you right from the start.

The last show in this programme, Mapping, choreographed by former Phoenix artistic director Darshan Singh Bhuller, is the perfect way to round-up a brilliant evening of contemporary dance. Mapping pieces together the theme of journeying and the desire for companionship, and sees the company make excellent use of projections and technology to achieve their intentions with the piece. Bhuller’s excellent choreography gripped the audience, and evoked roars of laughter from them at the same time – he managed to capture the desire for travel and conquest in a playful, epic way that puts a smile on your face.

Phoenix Dance Theatre Company is one of the most prominent dance companies out there, and its new Mixed Programme for 2014 shows this. They ignite the fires of your imagination through their distinct correlation between emotion and choreography, and any piece of theatre that does that is a winner.

Phoenix Dance Theatre performed as part of York Theatre Royal’s TakeOver Festival. For more information and tickets for the festival’s other shows, visit the TakeOver Festival website.