New York City Ballet: Short Stories February 25, 2009

Balanchine's one-act version of Tschaikovsky's 'Swan Lake,' with its corps of sleek black swans, infuses this enchanting classic with new passion. Hans Christian Andersen's handsome fairytale 'The Steadfast Tin Soldier' finds love under the Christmas tree between a paper doll ballerina and a smitten toy soldier. The balcony scene from Shakespeare's 'Romeo and Juliet' provides the backdrop for one of ballet's most romantic pas de deux. 'Slaughter on Tenth Avenue' is a vampy Broadway ballet about a jealous Russian premier danseur and his hoofing American rival.