South African choreographer and dancer Dada Masilo has gained international acclaim for her productions inspired by classical ballets. In the past she has taken works including Romeo and Juliet, Swan Lake and Giselle and blended them with African traditions.

With The Sacrifice she has gone a step further. Although the work is inspired by Igor Stravinsky’s ballet The Rite of Spring, that is very much a starting point and Masilo has created a new work out of its ideas. There are elements of the original ballet, in which spring is returned to the earth by the sacrifice of a young woman who dances herself to death, but there is so much more here.

We initially see Masilo, bare-breasted and alone on stage, and we wonder whether she is to be the sacrifice. But then she is surrounded by dancers so that she becomes one of many. There is joy, laughter and fun with these dancers and we begin to believe the sacrifice has been put to one side.

But slowly, surely, the pace and the tone changes. Now these dancers are encouraging her, even pushing her, to make that sacrifice until she offers up her life. She is no longer part of the group but a solo dancer, an individual forced to take a lone path to protect those around her.

The work feels intensely personal with Masilo dancing not just with her body but with her mind and soul. Not only is her character giving everything physically but we feel she is also emotionally and spiritually sacrificing all.

Masilo and her company researched and explored the South African dance Tswana for this piece and The Sacrifice brings together elements of that dance with Masilo’s choreography. There is a visceral quality to the movement so that the company are dancing with every sinew, no gesture is superfluous.

Masilo also deviates from Stravinsky by commissioning a new score which is played and sung live by musicians on stage. Composed by Ann Masina, Leroy Mapholo, Tlale Makhene and Nathi Shongwe, it is a stunning and evocative score which uses a range of Western and African instruments and rhythms to create haunting and ethereal melodies. At the close, singer Masina stands over Masilo in a solo which is laden with grief.

In The Sacrifice, Masilo is exploring the idea of sacrifice as part of a cultural tradition. Just as Stravinsky’s work was based on the idea of a ritual sacrifice every spring to ensure the continuation of life, so too Masilo’s single sacrifice ensures the survival of those around her. Bearing in mind the losses so many have experienced during the past three years, it feels very prescient.

Four stars

Reviewed by Diane Parkes at Birmingham Hippodrome on Tuesday 28 March. Dada Masilo's The Sacrifice continues to show at the venue until Wednesday 29 March.