In “L’Air D’Esprit” (1973), staged by Tina LeBlanc, Misa Kuranaga and Angelo Greco are as breathtaking as one might expect of principal dancers from San Francisco Ballet and Houston Ballet respectively. An overture of harps and trumpets signals transport to a past era, and when the curtain rises, Greco dashes across the stage carrying an ethereal Kuranaga, her arms waving like seaweed. The news of this work is in the shapes Kuranaga forms while sailing through the air over Greco’s head: supple inverted back bends, crescents that dangle from his shoulder. The lace of her lavender gown drapes off her arms like wings.

“Round of Angels” (1983), staged by Suzanne Lopez and Ashley Wheater, opens on the striking image of five men clustered like synchronized swimmers side by side, before a backdrop of stars. Featuring Jeraldine Mendoza and six men, all in unitards, the more contemporary ballet style contrasts nicely with the other classical works on the program. In a subtle role reversal the men kneel in a cluster around the center couple, their arms extended to the rear like a corps of ballerinas/swans. They fly Mendoza above their heads like a paper airplane. She becomes the figurehead at the prow of their ship. When she balances to luxuriate one leg into a vertical extension, her partner swings her into an inverted split that fills his entire arm span. Later, one slings her over his shoulder to drape like a sweater. Elegant and unique. The music of Mahler takes its time and the performers follow suit. They exit in pairs, Mendoza forming a giant cross in their arms.