Considering it was the first London performance of his new ballet company, Christopher Wheeldon looked remarkably unruffled. The British born choreographer jokily admitted that setting up a new troupe was a 'pretty hare-brained scheme', before thanking everyone who’d helped him do it, and then leaving his own pre-premiere party to join his 'kick-ass dancers', as he calls them, backstage.

You imagine he gave them a final pep talk before the curtain rose on a packed Sadler’s Wells and one of the most anticipated dance events for many a year. Ever since he announced he was setting up his own troupe, people have asked: Who will be dancing? What will they dance? And where will they be based Cannily, he has formed a transatlantic troupe that divides its time between London and New York.

The fully fledged company won’t emerge until 2009, so in the meantime Wheeldon has created a so-called 'pick-up' troupe with tip-top guest artists.

'I want to prove that ballet isn’t some dusty thing, all pink and frilly,' Wheeldon said. The result was a bracingly modern mixed bill, with three Wheeldon works, one brand new, plus ballets from William Forsythe and Edwaard Liang.

The least satisfying was the new Wheeldon piece, a thinly drawn duet for Alina Cojocaru and Johan Kobborg that looked suspiciously like it had been thrown together last Wednesday.

Happily, After The Rain justified the very considerable hype. It is a pas de six, although the key section is a due by Wendy Whelan and Craig Hall.

Wheeldon’s mix of balletic grace with quirky gestures creates an emotional narrative that evokes the unsettling effect of uncertain new love. Also good was his Morphoses, and even the less convincing Vicissitude by Edwaard Liang was gorgeously danced.

The only reservation is the cumulative effect of several plotless ballets all in one go. Five works to challenging music (Gavin Bryars, György Ligeti) with neither costumes nor sets can wear thin, even to committed modernists, and even with dancers as good as these.

● Until Sunday (sadlerswells.com)