Empty stages, silent orchestra pits…it has been a depressing year for the performing arts. With the easing of the lockdown, dance fans can once again enjoy live performances instead of having to get their terpsichorean fix via online services.

English National Ballet is back with Reunion, a mixed programme of short ballets originally made for online viewing, now performed live for the first time. They display the versatility of the company in five ensemble pieces. The show kicks off with Take Five Blues by Stina Quagebeur. Quirky, speedy and fun, the work uses just eight dancers who make the most of the famous jazz melody and look delighted to be back where they belong.

Laid in Earth is a powerful, emotional work by Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, danced with conviction at the performance I saw by Precious Adams, Joseph Caley, Noam Durand and Francesca Velicu. It is followed by Senseless Kindness, a gentle ballet by Yuri Possokhov, set to music by Shostakovich.

Russell Maliphant’s Echoes is a piece where the striking (and somewhat migraine-inducing) lighting plays just as important a part as the choreography. Intense, pulsating and compelling, it demands a lot from its 12 dancers and they do not fail to deliver.

The programme finishes with Jolly Folly, a delightful homage to early Hollywood silent movies. Echoing the exquisite comic timing of stars such as Chaplin and Keaton, the dancers fill the stage with boundless energy, throwing their bodies around in Arielle Smith’s inventive choreography. Familiar tunes by Strauss, Tchaikovsky and Mozart are given a radical re-working and the composers are probably spinning in their graves, but given this joyous interpretation, I think they are spinning with delight. By the final curtain the audience were beaming with happiness – under their masks, of course.

English National Ballet’s Reunion is at Sadler's Wells Theatre until 30 May