Choreographer Crystal Pite and director Simon McBurney have taken on a monumental task with Figures In Extinction, part elegy to the animals and landscapes we have lost, part deep dive into the state of humanity. But they rise to the challenge supremely. The piece is made up of three separate sections, each with its own distinct enquiry (a roll call of extinct creatures; an investigation into the human brain; a requiem). It is a desperately urgent work that thrums with the passion of its creators in every flickering detail or muscular sweep of movement. 

Pite has become known for her word-based choreography, transforming lip-synced speech into gestures of hyperbole. Here it’s used to excellent effect, either amplifying the mood and intent of the speaker (as in a Machiavellian climate-change denier), or to punctuate and animate the meaning of words (as in a lecture by the neuroscientist Iain McGilchrist). With visions of death and disconnection so prevalent throughout, Figures In Extinction could so easily have slid into something unbearably sorrowful. But McBurney and Pite are too smart to allow that to happen. Instead, the tone constantly shifts and recircuits. Sadness is swiftly followed by satire. A sobering depiction of our tech-dependence segues into an exquisite duet celebrating human touch. We can change direction; we can be reborn. There is hope.

But it is the moments where the ensemble surge together to create lost landscapes, majestic herds or human communities that are the most electrifying. Nederlands Dans Theater are an insanely masterful troupe, and it is plain to see the dancers pouring everything into their performances: mental focus, physical stamina, group unity, individual panache. And the voice of a little girl asking of the animals, ‘are they gone forever?’ is one of those rare occasions when you realise the unique and gut-wrenching power of live performance.

Figures In Extinction, Festival Theatre, 23 August, 8pm; 24 August, 3pm.