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Contemporary dance. Richard Alston, Artistic Director of The Place, the UK's leading centre for contemporary dance, is internationally recognised as one of the most influential and inspiring choreographers in British dance. Following the success of Blow Over, commissioned by Dance Umbrella in 2008 in celebration of Alston’s 60th birthday, and Carmen, choreographed for Scottish Ballet this spring, Richard Alston is premiering his third and fourth new works in the past nine months. Alston’s new creations span the past 100 years of modern music. Alert is a brand new collaboration with composer Claudia Molitor, specially commissioned as part of the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Hear Here! project to examine the very notion of listening. Serene Beneath is to the haunting piano music of Stravinsky’s contemporary, Alexei Stanchinsky. Former company member Martin Lawrance has expanded Brink, a work he created for the company in 2007, for the performances at The Place. The reworked version features six dancers in five movements set to Japanese composer Ayuo’s Eurasian tango music. Richard Alston’s Blow Over is a work for 10 dancers, set to Phillip Glass’s Songs from Liquid Days. It was co-commissioned in 2008 by Dance Umbrella and Sadler’s Wells, and premiered at Sadler’s Wells as part of Alston’s 60th birthday celebrations in October. Brimming with effervescence, Blow Over is fast-paced with its dancers weaving their way through intricate patterns in duets, trios and ensemble sections.