Three celebrated works from Balanchine evoke intriguingly contrasting atmospheres. In Rubies, from the full-length ballet Jewels, the jazz-inflected score sets the stage for a romp glinting with wit, surprise, and thrilling choreography. The Four Temperaments, a repertory favorite throughout the Company’s history, is a plotless neoclassical work loosely inspired by the ancient belief that human behavior is defined by four elements, or “humors”: the melancholic, the sanguinic, the phlegmatic, and the choleric. The mysterious La Valse depicts a young woman dancing with increasing abandon under the influence of an enigmatic figure enticing her to the edge of darkness.
