BALLET Theatre Ireland is the performing company of the Gibson Madden School of Dance, based in Cork, and, on Sunday night it gave Dublin a chance to see its students in an ambitious programme at the Olympia which combined classical and contemporary dance. The students also had the invaluable experience of supporting top calibre principals from the Dutch National Ballet.

Caroline Sayo Iura was an exquisite Giselle, both technically and dramatically, while Wim Broeckx, as her Albrecht, was a fine partner, his height giving a soaring quality to the lifts. Mary Gibson Madden and Eric Gibson's choreography, based on the version by Sir Peter Wright, had many nice touches, establishing the characters from the start, and the production was most professionally staged in beautiful settings by Peter Farmer, lent by the Birmingham Royal Ballet.

In this version, the Act 1 peasant pas de deux becomes a pas de trois, danced by the promising Matthew Cranitch with Karen Downey and Clodagh Murray, and at the end Giselle really appears to sink into her grave, an effect not always achieved.

The corps de ballet were a little ragged in Act 2, but Katherine Devoy, as the Queen of the Wilis, showed definite promise.

Giselle was preceded by Relativity, a short piece especially choreographed for the students by John Carney and set to the music of Pink Floyd and Yellow. It was presumably intended to showcase the students in contemporary dance, but performing it in addition to a two act ballet made the evening overlong. Nevertheless, the performance was most commendable, and the audience showed its appreciation.