After raining for the past six days, and thunder storming on the afternoon of Thursday, May 7th, 2009, I was excited for two reasons. I was going to see my first ballet other than George Balanchine‘s The Nutcracker, and it had finally stopped raining just in time for me to head over to New York City Ballet‘s performance of Divertimento No. 15, La Stravaganza, and Symphony in Three Movements at the David H. Koch Theatre.

The first piece was danced to the distinctive music of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and was choreographed by George Balanchine. Divertimento No. 15 reminded me very much of the second act of The Nutcracker. You know when Clara and the Prince sit in the Land of the Sugar Plum Fairy and watch little performances by the dancers representing chocolate and candy? The theme and variation section of this elegant piece was very similar. Each dancer would perform a mini solo; they were all different, but connected by variations of the music and the arm gesture motifs. Over all, it was a classically beautiful ballet.

When the lights went down after the first intermission, I was surprised to see that the orchestra musicians were not seated and ready in the orchestra pit. I soon realized why this very modern ballet piece, called La Stravanza, choreographed by Angelin Preljocaj, couldn’t use an orchestra. Although the beginning started out with recorded music by Antonio Vivaldi, when a second group of dancers emerged, very odd and random sound effects accompanied them that an orchestra would not have been able to create. This ballet, unlike the other two, had a story line: two different groups, one more civil, and the other more savage, interacted through love and violence. The costumes and the classical versus modern music perfectly reflected the two groups’ differences. I felt this was the most interesting ballet of the three performed because this strong story line supported the talented dancers and unusual music. It was interesting to see gestures from everyday life incorporated into the choreography. La Stravanza was so complex, engaging, and original that I would recommend seeing this program, even solely to see this piece.

Balanchine also choreographed the third piece, Symphony in Three Movements, with music by Igor Stravinsky. Balanchine made this piece a “leotard” piece, meaning that the set, lighting, and costumes (just plain leotards) were simple, so as to give focus to the dancing. It was more modern than the first, but more balletic than the second, and very theatrical. It fact, the girls reminded me of Ann Margret from Bye Bye Birdie, with their high ponytails in scrunchies, and the three main dancers wearing hot pink leotards. The men reminded me of West Side Story, with their high jumps/spinning and warm-up-like costumes. The second movement was a flirtatious duet that made me think of a high school romance. This was my second favorite piece, although I loved and would absolutely recommend all of them. It was a good mix of different dance styles and music, with the same outrageously talented dancers.