Sir Fred and Mr B is the title of a new programme in which the company salutes two of the great choreographers of the last century, Sir Frederick Ashton and George Balanchine. Mr B’s contribution is Mozartiana, which I reviewed recently when it came to Cheltenham. It’s a series of abstract classical dances (well, that’s what you expect from Mr B) set to Tchaikovsky’s rather sugary tribute to the style of Mozart. Pleasant enough; the most enjoyable moments came from Elisha Willis. What a transformation she then underwent to become the alluring gypsy seductress in Sir Fred’s masterpiece, The Two Pigeons!

An artist, in his Paris loft, is trying to make a portrait of his very young lover. She is driving him mad by twitching and fooling about when he wants her to sit still. Gypsies arrive. The Gypsy Girl and the Young Man make eyes at each other, and he follows her to their encampment. There, he’s beaten up for his trouble, returns home, and realises that his true love is living there with him. Not much of a plot, you may think, but in 1961 Ashton created a two-act ballet that is a total enchantment, and this is an important revival.

Nao Sakuma is a wonderful dancer – light, lyrical, expressive, musical – but it’s her acting as a young girl deeply in love that wins you over. At first she is irritating her partner, but she is charmingly irritating, though too young to realise that he really is annoyed. Then, faced with the glamour of the gypsy, she is drawn into a dance duel.

The gypsy is supremely confident, the girl desperate to hold on to her man. She is infinitely touching in her efforts to win him over, and when he leaves her alone in the studio we feel her heart breaking. The gypsy encampment is a swirl of colourful skirts as Ashton lets rip with a series of glorious ensembles, and the final scene of reconciliation back in the studio is one of the most tender moments you will ever see on the stage. Chi Cao (pictured in Mozartiana) makes a fine job of the Young Man and partners Sakuma confidently through some very difficult, intricate choreography. At the end there were prolonged cheers, especially for Sakuma, who delivered a magnificent performance in a magnificent work.