On a stage mimicking a rehearsal studio, Scènes de Ballet displays 64 student dancers and their implied reflections in the mirror as they perfect their craft.

Christopher Wheeldon's second work for New York City Ballet, Scènes de Ballet, is set in a Russian ballet studio (designed by Ian Falconer), a slightly skewed classroom bisected by a barre and an imaginary mirror. The dancers — 64 School of American Ballet students ranging from the very young to the soon-to-graduate — are similarly divided between "real" dancers and their "reflections." This classically inspired ballet displays what one critic has called "a bracingly confident fusion of George Balanchine's structured clarity with the sunny lyricism of Frederick Ashton."
 
Stravinsky said his music for Scènes de Ballet was free of any literary or dramatic intentions and that "the parts follow each other as in a sonata or in a symphony in contrasts and similarities." He did, however, specify different dances for the 11 parts of his score. Stravinsky, who was living in Hollywood at the time, originally wrote Scènes de Ballet for a review called "The Seven Lively Arts," presented by showman Billy Rose at the Ziegfield Theatre in New York City on December 7, 1944. The leading roles were danced by Anton Dolin (who had choreographed the piece) and Alicia Markova. Since then, the score has been used by a number of choreographers, including John Taras (for New York City Ballet's 1972 Stravinsky Festival) and Frederick Ashton who, in 1948, created a ballet for Margot Fonteyn, Michael Somes and a corps de ballet.

Exploring NYCB’s neoclassical roots in his choreography, Peck’s Pulcinella Variations features nine dancers in a series of divertissements, dressed by Japanese fashion designer Tsumori Chisato in whimsical commedia dell’arte-inspired costumes.

One of Balanchine’s most celebrated leotard ballets, Symphony in Three Movements is bold and breathtakingly jet-propelled, a kinetic achievement, striking for its confidence and power.

For New York City Ballet’s 1972 Stravinsky Festival, Balanchine choreographed several notable masterpieces, including the majestic Symphony in Three Movements.  Stravinsky had suggested the music as a ballet when the choreographer visited the composer in Hollywood during World War II. Despite its 21 minute length, the piece evokes a fuller symphonic breadth with two instruments, the harp and piano, providing the dominant contrasts. “Each instrument has a large obbligato role in a movement to itself, and only at the turning- point fugue…do the two play together and unaccompanied,” said Stravinsky. The signature Stravinsky propulsive rhythm is mirrored by the angular, athletic choreography for soloists and a large ensemble, although the second andante movement, originally composed for an apparition scene in the movie Song of Bernadette, is reserved for a meditative pas de deux. One of Balanchine’s “leotard” ballets, the work requires no scenic or narrative distractions from the complexity of the choreography.

It was during his tenure at the legendary Ballets Russes, from 1924 until the death of Serge Diaghilev in 1929, that Balanchine met Igor Stravinsky, marking the start of a long-time artistic partnership between two kindred spirits. Balanchine's Symphony in Three Movements was created for the Stravinsky Festival in 1972. With sporty and athletic elements, this snappy, snazzy ballet is a testament to Balanchine’s pioneering spirit and exceptional musicality.