Tree of Codes looks sensational. The uber-kinetic dancing is dazzling. The staging with its intriguing use of doubling and infinite reflections in mirrored backdrops, its striking geometric shapes and its seductive play of light, looks a million dollars. And yet. And yet. Thrilling though much of it is, there is little to connect with emotionally beneath its flashy surface, little that it seems to be saying.

^{Tree of Codes. Photograph © Stephanie Berger}

A collaboration between British choreographer Wayne McGregor, Icelandic-Danish artist Olafur Eliasson and UK musician Jamie xx, Tree of Codes premiered in Manchester in 2015 and has since toured to London, New York and Denmark.

It was inspired by Jonathan Safran Foer’s enigmatic, tactile book-sculpture of the same name, which he created by carving up Bruno Schulz’s book The Street of Crocodiles. In response, Jamie xx apparently used an algorithm to turn shapes and spaces from the book into melodies, McGregor created a dance for each of the book’s 134 pages, while Eliasson created the striking visual effects.

Writing in the programme, McGregor says: “The physical laguage uses the text as a primary point of departure. Its meaning, its feeling, its...