For example, the film Hairspray shares the story of Tracy Turnblad, an overweight 15 year old dancer set in the 1960s.

The centerpiece of the program was Remy Charlip's new "Ludwig and Lou," a 2-part piece for 10 male dancers, set to music by Beethoven and Lou Harrison.

Anotimpuri (Seasons), choreography by Sergiu Anghel, ballet for 12 dancers set to "The Electric V.", Orion Ballet Company (1998)

"Ballades," a work for 13 dancers set to the music of Chopin, evokes a variety of moods in three parts based on the times of day: Midday, Dusk and Midnight.

Were she to write a tragicomedy for dancers set in a crumbling ozone layer, nobody would be surprised.

As light seeps in, a free-standing ruin emerges from obscurity, revealing an Italianate scene with six dancers set against a biblical landscape.

The same is true of "Tuesday, 4 a.m.," an ambitious work for six dancers set to the unpredictable rhythms of Stravinsky's Capriccio for Piano and Orchestra.

This is an amiably wacky ballet about choreographers and dancers set to a recording of five movements from Haydn's six-movement Symphony No. 60 in C ("Il Distratto").

Mr. Buraczeski's creative approach to jazz dance was wonderfully understood by the dancers in "Theme and Reflections," set to Charles Mingus.