Rosemary Dunleavy staged the ballet selections from "Orpheus, " which are gracefully performed by Natalia Alonso as Maria Tallchief, Native American ballerina and wife to Balanchine, and a puppyish Michael Rosen as her young American co-star.
Raising expectations and then dashing them is a recipe for civil strife in China, which is why officials are doing their best to slap down the puppyish enthusiasm of local officials before it gets out of hand.