Impressionistic. Cubist. Abstract.

These are the words artistic director and choreographer Pascal Rioult uses to describe the three pieces his dance troupe, RIOULT (pronounced ree-you), will showcase when it makes a welcome return to the Bermuda Festival stage this evening for the first of two performances at the Ruth Seaton James Centre for the Performing Arts.

Opening the programme will be the impressionistic 'Views of a Fleeting World'. Set to J.S. Bach's 'The Art of Fugue', this is a meditative piece which is broken up into nine sections – Orchard, Gathering Storm, Wild Horses, Dusk, Sudden Rain, Night Ride, Summer Wind, Moonlight, and Flowing River – each with a different mood, and representing the various stages of the human experience.

Bach's music is beautifully wrought, with both purity and strength, and provides a truly inspiring canvas on which to choreograph a work celebrating beauty and humanity in art, as in life.

'Views' will be followed by the more thematic and dramatic 'Les Noces' (The Wedding), RIOULT's modern-day reinterpretation of the Stravinsky masterpiece. This explores the primal instincts behind the traditional rite of passage – specifically, the undercurrents surrounding young love, and the anticipation of marriage. The sexual references throughout the work are tasteful but obvious.

Closing the programme will be RIOULT's signature work – the abstract tour de force,'Bolero', performed by eight athletic and accomplished dancers dressed in silver unitards.

This work is a bold and unexpected interpretation of French composer Maurice Ravel's famous and eponymous score. Its perpetual motion and ever-changing patterns build to its illusive but inevitable climax.

When Ravel was asked about his 'Bolero' he said: "My most famous piece – too bad there is no music in it." Indeed. The composer challenged himself to repeat as little material possible as many times as he could without losing the audience's interest. This is exactly what Mr. Rioult decided to do with his version, creating a machine-like dance which explores the duality of constant rhythm and sensuality of 'Bolero' while bringing it to a riveting crescendo. Variations in this human assembly line of movement bring detail to the choreography as the instrumentation adds detail to the music.

Former French track and field star Mr. Rioult first took up dance at age 26, and quickly progressed, winning a scholarship to study modern dance in the United States.

Just five years later he was selected to join the prestigious Martha Graham Dance Company, and soon took on principal roles. Ms Graham even created the central role for him in her final work.

He began choreographing in 1989, while still a member of the Graham troupe, and founded the Pascal Rioult Dance Theatre in 1994 – now rebranded as RIOULT.

Hailed as a major choreographic talent on both sides of the Atlantic, his New York City-based modern dance company has built a reputation as one of the most highly regarded dance troupes today. Its last Bermuda Festival appearance was in 2004.

Curtain time is 8 p.m.

¦ For ticket information see websites www.bermudafestival.org or www.bdatix.bm. For ticket purchases only telephone 232-2255. For general information about the Festival telephone 232-8499. For in-person ticket purchases, visit the BDATIX ticket centre at the iStore, 46 Reid Street, Hamilton (open Monday to Saturday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.).