Split Sides, with Radiohead's score, has its UK premiere at the Barbican

The Merce Cunningham Dance Company give Split Sides its UK premiere at the Barbican Theatre in London tonight, the first of five nights running to Saturday. It is part of the Barbican's BITE:04 season; the Barbican co-commissioned the piece and announced the London run last December. Radiohead and Sigur Rós made about 20 minutes of music each for it, and here, as in Seoul in April, Radiohead's half is played from a recording.

A throw of the dice settles each evening. Choreography, music, costumes, decor and lighting come in two versions each, which makes 32 possible pieces, so whether Radiohead or Sigur Rós are heard first is down to chance. At the Brooklyn premiere on 14 October 2003, the one night the two bands played their music live, the dice were thrown on stage in front of the audience.

On the first three nights the other half of the bill is How to Pass, Kick, Fall and Run, with Cunningham himself on stage reading short stories by John Cage.

Sigur Rós have released their half as the three-track EP Ba Ba Ti Ki Di Do. Radiohead's half is not for sale; Jonny Greenwood told Billboard in January that the music is just for the dance.

Split Sides in 2004