First up was Donizetti Variations, George Balanchine's affectionate, witty Italian salute. On the surface it's a bright, buoyant piece for nine dancers and a lead couple, here Mary Carmen Catoya and Renato Penteado, doing lots of frothy, intricate dancing in pink and blue village gear. But it's also a sly satire of Italian character -- as when four women bury their faces melodramatically in the crook of their arms -- with subtle, delicious virtuosity for the leads.

Catoya was just lovely, carving rapid jumps and footwork with cut-glass musical precision and exquisitely sculpted form, all cloaked with velvety ballerina grace. Penteado is not a gasp-inducing dancer, but he was so clean and open and solid in the tight, rapid-fire beats and leaps that he impressed anyway.