“Concerto for Two Pianos,” set to music of the same name by Francis Poulenc, is dedicated to Tiler’s father, who died two days before rehearsals for the piece began. But this ballet was not a dirge in any way—in fact, it was technically flashy and dramatic. It did, however, feel infused with love: for music and for classical ballet itself. Tiler is an exceedingly musical dancer, and this, excitingly, was evident in her choreography. “Concerto” began with a fast passage for seven corps couples to match the opening bombast in the score. Soon after, Roman Mejia soared onstage and tossed off pirouettes to trills like beads off a Mardi Gras float, with India Bradly and Emma von Enck as his sprightly sidekicks. Whenever the pianos turned lush, Mira Nadon entered in a merlot-colored Zac Posen gown to glamorize the situation—she was the lone person onstage not sporting a shade of blue or gray. To Poulenc’s castanet passages, Tiler had everyone snapping their fingers, with the women grabbing their skirts and swishing them in flamenco chic. She paired a low piano oscillation with Mejia and Chun Wai Chan circling each other like sharks in their gray unitards. Tiler employed chugs, heel walks, and partnered paddle turns to jollier, more muscular refrains.  

Tiler also flashed her Balanchine credentials in well-plucked quotes from across the repertory. I liked when the corps women bourréed backwards around their partners in a circle before being whisked offstage at the waist, à la the end of the “Stars and Stripes” pas de deux. It was neat to see this step done en masse. She had Mejia flex his fists in triumph, like Puck in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” or with braggadocio, as in “Rubies.” Nadon and Chan hit a piqué turn into an arabesque promenade straight out of “The Man I Love” pas de deux from “Who Cares?”—a tricky step that Tiler herself has performed dozens of times.