There is something sad about Michael Clark still trying to trade on a reputation as the "bad boy" of British dance. If you are shocked by women in leotards with bare bottoms, dildos and fake masturbation, then you should steer clear of Before and After: The Fall. You should also probably stay indoors for fear of catching sight of your average stag or hen night, as this will probably push you over the edge. In reality, this dance is about as risqué as Benny Hill.
The first part, Fall, features old work of Clark's, and none of it has aged well. Set to music by The Fall a series of short dances features goose-stepping ballerinas, a prosthetic penis that gets cut off (or, rather, the clip holding it on is snapped open) and a goldfish-eating scene. With all of this going on it's easy to get distracted from the movement, which is sometimes stunning. The four dancers who join Clark - Kerry Biggin, Kate Coyle, Melissa Hetherington and Lorena Randi - can suddenly produce an arabesque or leg extension that immediately lifts the performance. The choreographer's eye for shape and ear for music is as keen as it has always been.
Masturbation is the common theme in the second part, Rise. Much has been made of its throwback to Nijinsky's L'Après-Midi d'un Faun, in which the Faun gently rubs its crotch against a scarf as the lights fade. The gesture caused a scandal in Nijinsky's time, but we have become so desensitised that nowadays we need a Sarah Lucas giant 10-foot-high hand to get the same effect. Certainly the scene where the dancers cross the stage with fluorescent lightbulbs has echoes in Nijinsky's two-dimensional choreography (and spelling IV reminds us of Clark's drug-taking days).
We quickly leave that behind and soon the giant hand performs the obvious to Zorba's Dance as a grand finale. It was all very adolescent.