Two dancers from La Scala Ballet—Nicoletta Manni and Timofej Andrijashenko, both making their New York debuts—turn the mood back to timeless with “Grand Pas Classique,” a platonic ideal of a pas de deux. Andrijashenko is especially agile, with a quick brisé. At times, the pair have some hesitation (with him holding her just a moment too long before her repeated passé balance), but overall, they come to the piece with ample bravado.

Braylon Browner, Styles Dykes, and Brady Farrar are a standout trio, performing alongside opera singer Maria Barakova who sings “L’amour est un oiseau rebelle,” from “Carmen.” It’s a striking piece by Abdiel Figueroa Reyes, YAGP’s 2026 Emerging Choreographer, balancing elements of ballet and street dance. It helps that these three dancers are so technically proficient and stylistically free that they can easily transition from a dramatic back bend to a floating pirouette. Barakova, walking around them the whole time, operates both as a moving set piece—breaking up their formations—and a striking foil; her calm poise contrasts wonderfully with their toreador panache. 

The act one pas de deux from “Manon,” performed by the inimitable Polina Semionova and Martin Ten Kortenaar, is one of the biggest highlights of the night. It’s a sensual and playful duet, which the pair glide through with ease—even with demanding passages, like hops into penché. Semionova, ever in her prime, is far more than just a master technician, imbuing her every move with passion, especially in the pas de deux’s most rapturous moments: Kortenaar sweeping her up into his arms and twirling her as she curls in on herself, almost in the fetal position. I could have watched her all night.

Three student performances follow: the New York debut of “Into the Hairy,” Sharon Eyal’s bewitching contemporary work, which her company and Nederlands Dans Theater debuted last year, “Four Swans,” by Itzik Galili, and “All Long Dem Day,” by Marco Goecke.

Eyal’s choreography, which is purposefully repetitive and physically demanding (even if not obviously athletic), holds up in the hands of the YAGP international contemporary ensemble. Galili’s piece, performed by students from the Rock School, gives a comedic take on the four little swans from “Swan Lake” (to big laughs from the audience). And Goecke’s work—another contemporary dance, set to Nina Simone’s “Sinnerman”—is an especially captivating ensemble piece, full of rapid arm movements and neat formations.