The Stephen Petronio Company's Bud Suite.   (Photo: Sarah Silver)

“The Nightingale and the Rose”
Amid the hype about his own company, Christopher Wheeldon’s work for City Ballet got a bit lost. But this intimate, brief piece seemed even more romantic and lyrical than all the upside-down lifts at City Center.

Stephen Petronio Company
The work Petronio presented at the Joyce was modern, technically smart, and affecting. The return of the delightful Bud Suite made Petronio’s point best, as Rufus Wainwright’s “Oh, What a World” became not merely kitsch but had an audience marveling at a fluid man-on-man partnership.

“Slow Dancing”
In David Michalek’s high-def video projected on the State Theater, the shrug of a shoulder or the twitch of a bicep slowed to near-stillness became utterly painstaking. It showed that making movement is excruciatingly precise yet natural as breathing.

“Death in Venice”
The Hamburg Ballet’s master of graceful reinvention, John Neumeier, turned unlikely material into a “dance of death” that captured the beauty and passion underlying Mann’s tragic novella.

“From Here On Out”
Benjamin Millepied’s bright, inventive, geometric choreography, turning from delicate to confrontational, was perfectly mated with Nico Muhly’s alternately sparkling and aggressive score.

Related:

• Articles by Rebecca Milzoff
• Table of Contents: December 17, 2007 issue of New York | Subscribe!