BRUNTON THEATRE, MUSSELBURGH

MOST of Saturday night's audience didn't look old enough to remember the Thatcher-led politics of 1979, or the financial constraints that afflicted arts organisations. So was Ross Cooper letting his heart - and Curve Foundations' current lack of funding - govern the opening choice in the company's mixed bill? Economy in Straitjacket, but Still Room for Movement (1979) was choreographed for Scottish Ballet by its founder, the late Peter Darrell.

With its overt skites at the Tories - a blue-suited, Maggie-masked figure upstage, the Bach piano pieces book-ended by her rally speeches - this short work inclines towards museum-piece status: what keeps it watchable, however, is Darrell's ability to mix whimsy with exquisitely lyrical dance.

The quartet of white-clad dancers execute merry, Ashton-like antics with the ribbon ties on their straitjackets, their lower limbs alone being free to move. When Catherine Pearmain enters, her solo - without costumed restraints - is a blithe flow of expressive arm movements and buoyant steps (all evocative of Darrell's muse, Elaine McDonald). The message is unmissable - cut the red tape, let's dance. Which is what Curve's six, very able dancers do from first to last.

Mary Brennan