I was barely two and a half when my mother took me to the Grand Theatre for the ballet – an outing that cost her nearly a week's wages, as despite my age in those days, full price had to be paid.

I was mesmerised watching Alicia Makova and Anton Dolin so much so that I wanted to see more and over the years was fortunate to see dancers such as Margot Fonteyn, John Gilpin and Robert Helpman dance.

A couple of friends entered the Royal Ballet School White Gates, but for me the pen proved it was mightier than the pointe shoe, and I became a journalist. However, I kept my interest in dance and watched the world of ballet’s journey to the way it is today.

For me, one of the highlights was in 1995 when I saw Matthew Bourne’s All-Male Swan Lake, and a new era began.

Now Bourne’s The Car Man – Bizet’s Carman Re-Ignited, first premiered in 2000, is on tour delighting both regular Bourne audiences and recruiting a new band of Bourne followers.

The ballet is loosely based on Bizet’s opera Carmen and the James M Cain novel The Postman Always Rings Twice and once again, Bourne has masterfully and superbly created the ultimate work of art.

The original location of Bizet’s opera has been changed from the 19th-century cigarette factory in Spain and catapulted into the 1960s setting of a diner and garage in a small American town called Harmony.

The inhabitants are a close-knit community, but when Luca arrives, the whole scene changes with tempers, dreams and desires tempted to their ultimate limit. Luca takes what he wants when he wants. It's not long before violence, jealousy and tensions unfurl.

Bourne’s choreography borders on brilliance. His story-telling is fresh and exciting. Dancers use each other's bodies as an extension of their own. Bourne makes his point in the plot by using slow motion and using props, furniture etc to move his dancers across the stage.

The whole ballet is played out on Lez Brotherston’s amazing set that turns from a garage into a nightclub. He uses levels to create atmosphere from a row of showers with windows and a collection of American classic cars that move slowly and seamlessly when required.

Will Bozier (Luca) dominates the stage with his amazing physicality. His is a standout, technically perfect performance.

Cordelia Braithwaite’s Lana is amazing, graceful yet filled with raw emotion. Bozier and her work well together with a passionate chemistry that is superb.

The Car Man is very much an ensemble show, and every dancer contributes to making it thrilling to watch.

The Car Man runs until 24th October at Bradford Alhambra