George Balanchine’s “Serenade” is one of my very favorite ballets. It’s the perfect marriage of music, choreography, costumes, mood, and lighting, casting a spell on all who watch it.

Here are two short but fascinating videos that feature some visuals while New York City Ballet dancers talk about what its like to perform in it:

And here is the complete “Serenade” performed by the New York City Ballet in 1990. It’s fuzzy, and also difficult to film because if the camera is positioned too close to the stage you don’t get the effect of all the dancers and the lovely formations, but if it’s too far away the dancers look like teeny tiny miniatures. Remember also as you watch it that ballet on video is a wonderful thing to have, but that two dimensions cannot begin to compare to three and the real thing in the flesh:

[NOTE: I’ve written about this ballet before, here.]