So, were NYCB a revelation? No. The éclat of the first three (out of four) programmes has been uneven. They opened, rightly, with a Balanchine celebration, three of his masterpieces that should be a knockout bill � Serenade, Agon and Symphony in C. The comparisons they invite, however, are not so much with how NYCB danced them in the past, but with how many other companies (including our own Royal Ballet) have shown them to us in the interim.

Mr. Baryshnikov spent much of his dance career on the other end of the camera, as he recalled at the gallery before the recent opening. “I was taken to Lord Snowdon’s studio, and, of course, I was very impressed,” he said of his first season in the West in 1970 as a dancer with the Kirov Ballet in London. “But also it was all so perfect. A bit anal. Very unlike me, anyway. I’m so untidy.”

The company celebrates its 36th season with its first performance of "Don Quixote," one of the most joyful, fun-loving ballets in the classical repertoire.

"It's not something that'll put you to sleep," said guest Kevin Carpenter, who will dance the title role of Don Quixote.

Colorful gypsy characters, traditional dances such as the fandango, and plenty of laughs are part of the ballet in the Commedia dell'arte tradition of stock characters caught in familiar, sticky situations.

You could say that when it comes to its 2008-09 season, the Louisville Ballet is in the relationship business.
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Several of its most significant productions will reflect vigorous connections with such choreographers as André Prokovsky, Helen Pickett, Val Caniparoli and Adam Hougland, not to mention New York City principal dancer (and native Louisvillian) Wendy Whelan. All of them belong to the here and now, confirming artistic director Bruce Simpson's view that the Louisville Ballet must honor tradition without becoming a museum.

Though the anniversary is a coincidence, California Ballet's presence at the Balboa Theatre is the result of Mahon's determination to find a home for smaller-scale productions. California Ballet is a resident company at the refurbished 1,339-seat venue, which reopened earlier this year.

The Balboa Theatre residency is one of several new directions for the city's oldest, largest ballet troupe, which is shaking off a reputation for stodginess and stretching into some fresh territory.

Part Two of the evening offered Robbins' original choreography to Frédéric Chopin's nocturnes in In the Night. Staged by Victor Castelli, the romantic ballet for three couples served as an elegant centerpiece to the overall program.

Finally, the Company performed Robbins' timeless dances with Bernstein and Sondheim's legendary vocals in this ballet staging of the West Side Story Suite. The Suite - which premiered at New York City Ballet in 1995- incorporates such numbers as "Dance at the Gym," "Cool," "America," and "Somewhere." This piece significantly allows members of the ballet corps to add another dimension to themselves as performers by stepping out of the norm in order to sing the difficult vocal parts that most audiences know and love.

Retire Martins, rehire Farrell.