Cultural highlight of the weekend: seeing Michael Clark Company at the Barbican performing come, been and gone. The phrase ‘jolie laide’ (pretty-ugly) came to mind when I was trying to pinpoint why his work appeals to me so much. The punk aesthetic is still firmly there, in the bizarre costumes, the poking of fun at ballet conventions, the jarring movements and awkward angles – all executed with apparently effortless precision by the dancers. And what dancers – what bodies! They are individually, unconventionally, beautiful, and not all classical ballet ‘shapes’ (not that I’m any kind of expert!). Energy, humour, sheer exuberance – a truly uplifting experience.