Don't think that Ballet West, Salt Lake City's premiere ballet troupe, is just for locals. It's getting some national recognition - a rave review in The New York Times - for its current production, "Treasures of the Ballet Russes."

Here are the first two sentences of Alastair Macaulay's review:

"Triple or quadruple bills of ballets created between 1909 and 1929 for [Sergei] Diaghilev's Ballets Russes are not uncommon. All the more remarkable then that Ballet West's current 'Treasures of the Ballets Russes' triple bill proves the most stimulating Diaghilev anthology I have seen in more than 30 years."

Macaulay goes on to praise the dancer's athleticism in the demanding works, the "adventurous programming" of works seldom staged in the United States, and the "enlivening effect" of Ballet West's artistic director Adam Sklute.

"Treasures of the Ballet Russes" has finished its run at Salt Lake City's Capitol Theatre, but Ballet West is performing it at 7 p.m. tonight and Wednesday at the Val A. Browning Center at Weber State University, Ogden. It's worth the trip.

Labels: Ballet West