Cloud Gate Dance Theatre's programme states that "a subtle internal shift can happen to people when they watch Cloud Gate Dance Theatre." Similar to Russell Maliphant's performance at the Coliseum in 2009, I assumed this meant that the audience members would have to slow down their thoughts and breathing in order to be on a similar wavelength to tonight's performance. Curiously, the programme also stated "As these dancers were not enthusiastic in running and jumping, Lin devised sustained slow movements punctuated with still postures for them. Thus, White was born".

With Cloud Gate Dance Theatre, the audience knows that they're going to be treated to more than just a typical dance show: the company's focus is on aesthetics and staging, and these take priority in each show over the dance content.

Three pieces were performed tonight: Lin Hwai-min's original White, followed by an interval then White II and White III. White was the most meditative of the three pieces, opening with the strong imagery of a solo female dancer against a backdrop of a strip of cloth while a man in a long skirt played a hsiao (bamboo flute). Throughout the piece, the flute was interspersed with electronic music, but never losing its effect. White presumably was intended to depict the "'Asian' serenity" (as quoted in the programme); its movement was very hypnotic, focussing on slow deliberate movements throughout.

In White II, the piece opened with the lighting rig dismantled and hovering just above the stage; as it rose, it took the floor covering with it, creating a dramatic visual spectacle with light filtering through to the dancers huddling below. By contrast, White III used stark lighting throughout, as though to focus solely on the dancers and nothing else.

The movement in White (I/II/III) is almost negligible, secondary to the effects of the visual creations, which draw your eye so that you absorb every move, no matter how subtle it is. Because Lin's choreography for Cloud Gate is subtle: drawing equally on martial arts and dance, it avoids spectacular sequences, allowing the dancers to create dialogues with each other, and adding an extra dimension to their performances.

There are a number of UK-based Chinese, Taiwanese and Korean choreographers in London including Yuyu Rau, so it is interesting to see work such as Cloud Gate to understand its possible influence on them. Unfortunately, the flip side of this is the funding crisis that this country is in, and it's hard to watch such understated minimalism without considering valued dance companies which receive no public funding or have been rejected for public funding such as Ballet Black or the soon-to-be disbanded Cholmondeleys & Featherstonehaughs.

Sadler's Wells is to be commended for its programming of bringing over companies such as Cloud Gate Dance Theatre. While it's a rare treat to be able to watch their latest work, we can only hope that their next work will be more captivating - us London audiences are a little too spoiled by other companies.