2011 has certainly been a successful year for experimental dance, from the controversy over the somewhat dancefree Place Prize Finals, to Protein Dance's LOL notching up an unprecedented three awards in the Critics' Circle National Dance Awards, and now Ben Wright has returned with his follow-up to last year's critically-acclaimed About Around.


Ben Wright has a reputation for successfully combining opera, theatre, spoken word, audience participation and multimedia into thought-provoking and challenging works. The Lessening of Difference was inspired by Wright's reconnecting with David Charles Manners, an old friend who he'd not seen for 19 years, who is now a published author and who collaborated with Wright to provide the written material for this piece.


The opening scenes defined the wintrinesss of the setting, and also the interconnectedness of the group of dancers: even as individuals, they are still connected to each other, and remain so throughout the 80 minutes of this work.


It is easy to see The Lessening of Difference as a work in progress, as it is crammed with ideas, and clearly has too much to say without being clear about what exactly it wants to say. Some sections could have been reduced in length, and maybe others will be cut out in future. But there were certainly some beautiful moments to savour which we can hope will be expanded further.


The obvious highlight was the opportunity to see Nuno Silva featured in this work, both as a singer and as an exceptional dancer, following his years with Henri Oguike, and his recent performances with Clod Ensemble and in Javier De Frutos's collaboration with the Pet Shop Boys, The Most Incredible Thing. From Silva's tender monologue about an ex-girlfriend, to his falsetto singing of the theme from Carmen, to a very expressive solo, it was hard to focus on the other three dancers while Silva performed.


To an extent, this was due to the weakness of the choreographed sections, which felt like half-hearted afterthoughts to accompany the more dramatic sections, for example when Anna Bjerre Larsen flirted with the audience, potraying such anguish at being ignored, or Keir Patrick shyly dancing in front of his webcam. And yet there was a powerful duet between the two men towards the end - if only more of the choreography had had a similar impact.


At the end of the piece, the dancers find the closeness they had sought with each other, and the audience is left with the ambitiousness of Ben Wright's work, with impressive use of projection, amusing song choices, and unforgettable performances by Nuno Silva.