A triumph of innovative collaboration, this show was akin to watching the ingredients of an exquisite meal come together. In the fast half, we sampled Glasgow eight-piece Trip and the rousing sound they create on flute, accordion, fiddle, bodhran, piano and guitar. We watched three-piece Lyre Lyre expertly fuse Scottish and Scandi flavours on violin, Nordic mandola and cello. And we tasted the harmonious delights of Gaelic song trio Sian – the only downside of the night being these three beautiful singers didn’t return for the second half (although guitar accompanist Innes White did).

Then, after they – and we – were suitably warmed through, the curtain drew back post-interval to reveal all of them together, augmented by other top players. Fourteen musicians lighting up the stage, onto which nine dancers poured like cask-aged whisky to add an even deeper layer for us to savour. Rarely is contemporary dance performed to traditional music and almost never live, so this exciting blend found Scottish Dance Theatre in uncharted territory that brought the best out of them.

As the show’s name suggests, at times they were reminiscent of puffy, white clouds, thanks in part to Alison Brown’s pitch-perfect costuming. Mostly, though, the dancers were a living embodiment of the sound. Arms, legs and heads twitching with each note, like sheet music bursting into life. Choreographer Sofia Nappi had clearly absorbed the traditional Scottish score (credited to former Celtic Connections’ director Donald Shaw and Trip) into her very bones before conceiving these steps, so fluidly did the two bind together.

Scottish Dance Theatre in Moving Cloud PIC: Sean Purser / Celtic Connections

Echoing the musicians, the dancers fluctuated between doing their own thing and coming together in glorious unison. Shades of Nappi’s training with Hofesh Shecter and Ohad Naharin’s “Gaga” style were evident between joyous expressions of the music, rendering the whole thing unforgettable.

Celtic Connections review: Moving Cloud, Tramway, Glasgow