Push at Sadler's Wells Theatre
Contemporary dance met classical ballet when the French superstar ballerina Sylvie Guillem teamed up with the consummate choreographer Russell Maliphant for a programme of solos and a duet, Push. Guillem, bathed in light and shade, using her hyper-articulate classical body to etch Maliphant's addictive patterns, thrilled the packed audience and will stay in my memory for ever.

Le Parc at Sadler's Wells Theatre
It may be only across the Channel, but Guillem's alma mater Paris Opera Ballet - one of the world's greatest companies and certainly the oldest (founded in 1661) - has not been to London in 20 years. Angelin Preljocaj's Le Parc featured sensationally trained, physically gorgeous dancers fusing modern dance with Mozart and 18th-century mores. The piece was masterly, emotional and intelligent, though it received a critical drubbing.

The Kirov Ballet at Royal Opera House
The fabulous Russians presented a summer season that was as heartening as the Kirov Opera's was disappointing. Ballets such as La Bayadere and Swan Lake were everything traditionalists could hope for, while programmes dedicated to Balanchine and the deconstructionist William Forsythe showed that the Kirov is fully capable of applying its superb dancers to today's art.

Mark Morris Dance Group at Sadler's Wells Theatre
The ever-popular American choreographer brought to London his accessible brand of contemporary dance with two generously proportioned programmes. Not every piece was vintage Morris, but Grand Duo, an exciting, pounding ritual to Lou Harrison's music, and V - a series of riveting, resonant images prompted by Schumann - are among the best Morris has ever made.

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