I wish BalletLORENT would take up permanent residence in the Town Hall. They're brilliant, and I could watch them every night. And they're generous about getting other people to dance too. And they transformed the main room at the Town Hall from its usual functional grandeur to a dramatic space of light and shadow by uplighting the gallery so the statues loomed above us, creating an exotic space, more like a plaza in Madrid at dusk than Oxford in the cold.

There are two halves to the evening's entertainment. In the first half we're treated to a sort of history of formal social dancing, beginning with waltzes and the classics. But it's already out of the ordinary, with eclectic music choices, and fabulous costumes: the women wear pompoms on their heads that bob as they move. One dancer seems to be wearing yards and yards of loft insulation - it's just that colour pink. If this is a Tea Dance it's one in Wonderland.

I think I recognise flashes of dances, but they're all slightly disjointed - this one a Mexican Gay Gordon, this might be a quickstep set to Paul Simon, this seems to be a salsa en pointes. Now a spiky rave becomes a robotic cha cha as the dancers pair up. Are they saying alone people are lonely; in couples people are sleepwalking? It doesn't need a definition - the associations are fleeting. In one dance three barechested men seem now to be strutting at a stag do, and a moment later perhaps it's Jesus and two robbers saving humanity. Or perhaps it's just a dance.

There's a lovely mix of the beatiful formality of choreographed dance, with the breathtaking awe of gymnastics. One female dancer seems all composed of lines. She can do a lazy handstand up into the arms of a man who spins her round. She does the splits, one leg high above her head, and we all hold our breath. One man does slow, controlled, one-handed cartwheels all around the room and two guys breakdance on their heads. The audience sound like they're watching fireworks.

There are five male and five female dancers. They pair up in traditional male-female couples, or same-sex couples, they play with height differences, they form up and leave the floor together in a way that seems totally spontaneous though I'm sure it hides meticulous and rigorous choreography. It feels like we get to know the dancers - their differences, strengths and quirks. Often only one of a pair has shoes on. That's trust!

And in the last dance the audience begin to join the floor. Many people have come with clothes that flare out, or carefully chosen shoes. They've come hidden in their winter garb and shed it as if they're dance addicts and we're all here sharing a guilty secret. The professional dancers partner strangers, the music continues in its infinite variety. I can see people surprising themselves. There's a roomful of joy and possibility. Whatever the world's problems, they seem to have the answer: BalletLORENT have got it right.

Best of all they're on again for a second night. And if you do miss them, DancinOxford festival continues for around a week, with a whole host of dance-related activity - some to participate in and some to watch.