When most men visit Van Cleef & Arpels, the jewelry salon on Manhattan's Fifth Avenue, the result is likely to be an overdrawn bank account. When George Balanchine visits Van Cleef & Arpels, the result is a ballet. Jeweler Claude Arpels once suggested that Balanchine create a jewel-inspired dance, so the choreographer took a stroll past the store's gleaming showcases, and sure enough, his head filled with visions of bedecked ballerinas. Why not a trilogy, he thought, based on the motifs of emeralds, rubies and diamonds?
Balanchine's polished New York City Ballet troupe gave the untitled work its premiere last week...