This double bill from Ballet Black brings together two very different works and yet a thread runs through them - with both inspired by the voices of famous women. Will Tuckett’s Then or Now is set to the poetry of Adrienne Rich and Mthuthuzeli November’s Nina: By Whatever Means takes us into the life of singer Nina Simone.

Birmingham-born Tuckett’s Then or Now is a blend of spoken word with different voices reading from Rich’s poems, a single violin scored and played by Daniel Pioro and the dance. The three interweave creating their own form of poetry as music, word and physical movement blend.

Tuckett’s choreography is based in classical forms while also being highly contemporary, reflecting ideas from the various poems so that sometimes they appear literal and at others more of a meditation on Rich’s words.

Some are laden with sadness such as Deportations in which we feel the fear in Rich’s words and see that reflected on stage as the dancers crowd in an oppressive huddle. But there is also humour with Sending Love, a quartet of verses in which Rich describes different people sending love and we see the dancers passing this on as if love were tangible.

Rich’s poems are given a mournful depth by Pioro’s music which is based on Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber’s Passacaglia for Solo Violin. Despite originating in a 17th century piece of music, Pioro’s score underlines and emphasises the fractured nature of humanity today as described in Rich’s poetry.

November’s Nina: By Whatever Means is a narrative piece which follows the life of singer Nina Simone but here again the piece is more of a series of fragments of that life rather than a full story. November describes the work as a letter to Simone and, as such, it aims to bring the essence of her to the stage rather than being a historical chronicle.

And so, initially we see an older Simone reflecting on her past and then we go back in time to see her dancing in church, singing and playing piano in a bar, loving and fighting in her troubled domestic life – and finally playing a part in the civil rights movement.

With a score by Mandisi Dyantyis and November, the music also features two of Simone’s songs, Mood Indigo, in which we see the sadness of the singer, who was eventually diagnosed as bipolar, and a rebel-rousing Sinnerman where she takes a leading role in the battle for black rights.

Different dancers take the part of Simone at different stages of her life but much of the role is danced by Isabela Coracy who is stunning in her performance. There is a powerful pas de deux with Alexander Fadayiro in which the two are tender lovers and then violently fighting and finally she commands the stage with a supercharged Simone in Sinnerman.

Ultimately we are left with an impression not just of a woman determined to make her own way but also one determined to make a difference. It is a fitting piece for Ballet Black whose founder and artistic director Cassa Pancho set out to build a company to provide role models for black and Asian dancers which is today one of the most innovative and highly regarded dance companies in the country.

Four stars

Reviewed by Diane Parkes at Birmingham Rep on Wednesday 3 May. Ballet Black: Pioneers continues to show at the venue until Thurs 4 May.