Choice: Dance

Balanchine Mixed Bill, Birmingham Hippodrome (0121-622 7486)

Even before you get to the dancing, Birmingham Royal Ballet's Balanchine triple bill is worth it for the music alone. The classic Serenade features Tchaikovsky's Serenade for Strings; Orpheus is danced to Stravinsky's elegant neo-classical score; while The Four Temperaments uses Paul Hindemith's vastly underrated score for piano and strings. The coolly elegant theme moves through with four variations, each one allied to one of the temperaments - Melancholic, Sanguinic, Phlegmatic and Choleric - which were once believed to control the mind and body. With the success of Edward II still fresh, David Bintley's company is on a high. David Benedict