Dance review: Blood, Sweat and Tears

"BRING back happy memories? Unhappy memories?" asked the grey-haired man in front of me to his wife. She threw him a look that said it all. balletLORENT's moving three-part dance about life with a newborn baby prompted many such conversations during the interval. For those who have experienced the relentless fatigue, joys and frustrations of new parenthood, Blood, Sweat & Tears can't fail to resonate.

For those for whom it's simply a tale told by a third party, the work still has much to offer. Performed with remarkable tenderness by Philippa White and Gavin Coward, the opening duet perfectly captures those early days after childbirth, when two become three and life will never be the same again. Any attempt at physical closeness between the couple is interrupted, until finally things build to an aggressive exchange akin to a wrestling match.

As with all the work choreographer Liv Lorent produces, theatricality is to the fore. The first piece ends with the mother reconnecting with her wedding gown, and all the associated pre-baby memories that come with it. As it is buried beneath the set, the very act of pulling the dress out is rich with symbolism.

So too are parts two and three, which take us back in time to the wedding itself – then forward to a dreamlike world where a mountain of toddler-shaped soft toys could signify children yet unborn, the often overwhelming nature of parenthood – or any number of other interpretations to be found in this multifaceted work.