Two of those weeks have just begun: The company is ensconced at City Center until Nov. 4 with a repertory of ballets all created since 1940, most in the last 30 years, and two of them world premieres. (The third week occurs during its annual spring season at the Metropolitan Opera House.) Within the United States, only New York currently sees this “modern” face of Ballet Theater at all.

This polarity reflects problems addressed now by most ballet companies across the world: Mr. and Ms. General Public, increasingly wary of the new, would rather see “Swan Lake” when going out for a good time. But it is sad that Ballet Theater, more than most companies, has let these problems steer it into this Jekyll-and-Hyde existence. In its opening decades the company (founded in 1940) very quickly became world-class because of new ballets by Antony Tudor, Agnes de Mille, Jerome Robbins, George Balanchine and others.

It has been faithfully staged by its original ballerina, the exquisite Merrill Ashley. This carefully calculated suite of dances - the score is the ballet music Verdi wrote for the original Paris version of his opera "Don Carlos" - is a marvelous demonstration of Balanchine's sheer technical skill and inventive genius.

In its lace-worked dexterity, there is nothing and yet everything to it, with dancers tumbling over one another in graceful, climactic progression.

It was a fine first performance - marred somewhat by some oddly loud toe-shoes - led by the wizardry of Gillian Murphy, matched by a dashing David Hallberg.

For every ballerina he worked with, Balanchine created anew — designing a unique blending of her signature with his. No one has ever been as good as Ms. Ashley in "Ballo." (And why should they be?) "Ballo" can seem like a crowded laboratory experiment in speed, unusual step permutations, and phrasing. It is set to cheerful ballet music that Verdi wrote for the Paris opening of his "Don Carlos." On Tuesday the ballet seemed, if rather slight in the context of Balanchine's overall output, nevertheless continuously stimulating in the new possibilities that it did uncover. ABT's first performance, however, was bumpy.

Gillian Murphy, who has been so good in Balanchine's "Ballet Imperial" and "Symphonie Concertante," struggled to wrap herself around a syntax designed for Ms. Ashley. Throughout the ballet, Ms. Murphy seemed clenched. Her feet are very strong, but not fluid and articulate enough for the work here. In "Ballo" she must perform steps — such as hops on pointe — that can be accomplished generically through strength but are put together to require delicacy and hair-trigger responsiveness; in a couple of places she encountered speed bumps. She and David Hallberg were a fine partnership in "Romeo and Juliet" during ABT's season at the Metropolitan Opera last spring, but here their brief adagio was just a matter of getting through things.

Clearly, the Nashville Ballet has benefited greatly from Vasterling’s creative endeavors—few midsize, regional ballet companies program as much original choreography. But the best thing about Vasterling’s tenure has arguably been his staying power.

During its first decade as a professional company, the ballet went through artistic directors the way the Weimar Republic went through chancellors—four between 1986 and 1997. “There was a lot of turnover, which didn’t help the stability of the company,” says Vasterling.

Since Vasterling arrived on the scene, there’s been a steady rise in the company’s fortunes. He now oversees a yearly budget of $3 million, double what it was 10 years ago. Moreover, both the company and its audience have become more sophisticated.

One of Canada's first homegrown ballet stars, Winnipeg-born Adams met National Ballet founder Celia Franca in London when he was dancing for the Sadler's Wells ballet.

He agreed to join the new company she helped found in Toronto and danced the leading male classical roles, including Albrecht in Giselle, Siegfried in Swan Lake and Franz in Coppélia.

The ballet's dancers, represented by the American Guild of Musical Artists, ratified a three-year contract Oct. 18 that contains only a "modest increase," said ballet Executive Director Harris Ferris. The accord raises dancer compensation by 10 percent over three years (2007 to 2010), for a total of $140,000, but freezes pay for the first six months.

"The fact that the unions agreed to take freezes indicates the dancers were ... sensitive to our financial constraints," said Ferris.

As the sleek screen descended before the first duet, Liang’s “Vicissitude,” it provoked anticipation as to how the footage would interact with the dancing. The film proceeded to show the dancers in rehearsal with Liang, conjuring the possibility that the dancers might not appear on stage, and instead the audience would have to be satisfied with a video performance and resulting introspection about the power of media to reform performance art. However, the screen lifted to reveal the dancers performing the very duet just seen in rehearsal. The footage preceding the other duets was largely comparable conceptually, and seemed neither to contribute to the artistic continuity of the show, nor to reveal further nuances in the dances.

The first piece on the program, “There Where She Loved,” to vocal music by Frederic Chopin and Kurt Weill, showcased stunning choreographic visuals. In his choreographic building and rebuilding of archaic line formations and fountain-like poses, wedded with beautiful green and purple costumes designed by Holly Hynes, Wheeldon created a changing landscape of love and loss. However, Wheeldon’s choice of such classical poses seemed to indicate a desire to portray archetypal characters consumed by an epic romance. If this is so, Wheeldon paints a surprisingly romanticized picture in which women must lean on men, and men bounce between women.

Farrell, 62, has received an honorary doctorate in performing arts from the University of Cincinnati and an award as an outstanding alumna from its College-Conservatory of Music. Yet she's never been recognized by the local dance community itself.

That's about to change.

On Sunday, she'll be the guest of honor at a Suzanne Farrell Tribute, sponsored by a coalition of local dance aficionados and organizations.

It's not that Farrell is unappreciated here. Rather, Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky have no umbrella organization uniting the dance community. And typically, it takes an organization like that to create an event such as this.

Enter Cincinnati dance lover Joan Sattler. The San Francisco Bay area native, whose youthful ballet training grew into an abiding adult passion, wasn't concerned about the lack of a regional dance organization. But she was surprised that there seemed to be no record of the Cincinnati or Mount Healthy city councils ever recognizing Farrell, who is unquestionably most significant dance figure to come from the area. Farrell's work with choreographer George Balanchine left a lasting imprint on the ballet repertory.

Sandra Johnson Osawa and Yasu Osawa’s new documentary Maria Tallchief, opening here as part of the Northwest Indigenous Film Festival, includes generous helpings of interviews as well as performance footage culled from early television and backstage films. They give us a thoughtful view on the artist and her particular history.

Last spring, Andrew Bartee was an Everett High sophomore commuting to the Pacific Northwest Ballet School in Seattle.

He still lives in Everett, but his talents have taken him to summer studies with the New York City Ballet's School of American Ballet and three weeks with the Royal Danish Ballet in Copenhagen.

Tonight, the 17-year-old and his mother, Suzan Bartee, are in New York City where Andrew will be honored as a 2007 Princess Grace Award recipient.

Olsen-Rodriguez said she was so excited to get the go-ahead on the ballet.

"For the company, it's a big, huge step," she said.

The San Gorgonio Ballet Company has been rehearsing since June. Olsen-Rodriguez has assembled a cast of 40, which includes eight professional dancers from Los Angeles, Orange County and the Inland Empire.

Kenneth Walker, a professional dancer from Torrance, portrays Chaplin. He and Olsen-Rodriguez worked together at the Redlands Festival Ballet and she asked him to play Chaplin in the ballet.

Because it's important to get everything right, Henry has been rehearsing.

Watching a group of dancers, who are fit and strong but generally petite, try to dance with a dog that looks like he should be pulling a plow may be worth the price of admission.

"I think he'll be fine," ballerina and Henry's owner Kendra Mitchell said. "He's going to be fine. He's a good dog."

It will be Japanese ballerina Chiaki Nagao's final performance of Juliet, a role that has earned her international acclaim.

Chiaki, 38, is retiring after 16 years with the Leeds-based Northern Ballet Theatre (NBT) - and her final performance as Juliet is at the Alhambra.

"It will be a very emotional night for me," said Chiaki, whose family is coming over from Japan to watch her final performance.

"I'm so appreciative of the chance to do farewell performances," he said during a rehearsal break at Colorado Ballet for his three performances in Dracula this weekend, reprising the key role of Jonathan Harker.

"It's a new life for us," the 35-year-old dancer remarked of his move to the Bay Area with Ritsuko ("Micky"), his wife of 12 years. Micky had served as rehearsal pianist and conductor with Colorado Ballet; when she was hired earlier this year to play for San Francisco Ballet and its school, he faced the challenge of finding a dancing job out West.

"Martin was the connection," Kubo said, in reference to former Colorado Ballet artistic director Martin Fredmann, who'd recommended the dancer to Smuin. "Martin had taught in San Francisco, when Michael (Smuin) ran San Francisco Ballet. He and Michael were friends."

This is the 13th year that Columbia City Ballet has re-created the story of the fanged fiend in artistic director William Starrett’s “Dracula.” In honor of this occasion, we have compiled 13 facts about the blood-thirsty count with a penchant for the necks of lovely ladies.

She was closely involved in the arts, especially music, as a member of numerous committees and as a helper of many causes. But if that suggests she was a "great-man's-widow" of the overbearing variety, no image could be more misleading.

She met Vaughan Williams in 1938, after sending him a ballet scenario. He rejected her first idea but showed interest in a second effort, The Bridal Day, based on Spenser's Epithalamium. Despite the gap of nearly 40 years in age — and the fact that they were both married — a close friendship began.

Next weekend, the program opens with "Raymonda Variations," Balanchine's neo-classical take on the foundations of Russian classical dance; next is "Agon" with music by Igor Stravinsky: A fierce piece, the duet at its center broke away from the pas-de-deux of the Russian tradition. Finally, "In the Upper Room" by post-modernist genius, Twyla Tharp, with music by minimalist Philip Glass.

An excerpt from Clear at least provided a good example of Stanton Welch's choreographic vision. Set to J.S. Bach, it introduced six men who paced on formally then broke up for independent allegro dancing. They were joined by Xiomara Reyes, who threaded alone among them, then faded away when Herman Cornejo remained to join her in a slow, romantic pas de deux ending with them entwined, caught in a shaft of light.

Of particular interest is Ballo Della Regina , newly staged for ABT by New York City Ballet's Merrill Ashley, its original ballerina. Balanchine used music from opera more than once, but never so vivaciously as with Verdi's Don Carlo . Gillian Murphy and high-bounding David Hallberg, a great partnership, kept up with Ormsby Wilkins' brisk reading of the score, dancing with ease, verve and swiftness. Not so the corps, who strove valiantly but failed sometimes to execute the rapier-like demands of the choreography.......

There Where She Loved" was the curtain-raiser opening night, to live piano, on-stage soprano, and melting mezzo, alternating Chopin and Weill. The unlikely music juxtaposition works. Inspired by Weill's melodrama, a languid ballerina clings onto the back of her man, after he sends her to the floor. The premise though - women giving themselves over to men - is shaky.

In developing his aesthetic vision, Wheeldon constrains dramatic emotion, as with, for example, the very expressive Bolshoi dancer Anastasia Yatsenko. Could he not update his portrayal of women, whom he clearly reveres? Why have Nehemiah Kish walking the inanimate Tina Pereira, placing her feet as if she's helpless, in the neoclassical "Prokofiev Pas de Deux" opening night?