Waterbaby Bagatelles opens the program with 7 ballet bagatelles or trifles danced on a pristine surfaced stage lighted with fluorescent light tubes, like one might find in an aquarium. Men and women reinforce the dance’s water connection scooting in and out, backward and forward. Throughout the piece, dancers curve over the stage as if they were schools of fish.

The New York Times dance critic Anna Kisselgoff called Waterbaby Bagatelles “both idiocyncratic and terrific even by the best Tharp standards…like water, this ballet has no center; it refreshes simply by washing right over you.”

Nine Sinatra Songs is ballet with ‘ol Blue Eyes himself. This wildly popular Tharp classic presents its view of the 1950s ballroom dancing scene from a 1980s perspective. Songs sung by Frank Sinatra, costumes by Oscar de la Renta and lighting by Jennifer Tipton.

In The Upper Room is one of Tharp's most demanding ballets. It’s 40 minutes of unfolding energy and pulsating rhythm. A kind of ballet and modern dance face-off which features some dancers on pointe and some in sneakers with costumes by Norma Kamali. Tharp has described these movements as “fierce, driving and relentless.”

ORLANDO:

Friday, Mar 14, 2008 – 8:00pm

Saturday, Mar 15, 2008 – 8:00pm

Sunday, Mar 16, 2008 – 2:00pm

TAMPA: (Ferguson Hall)

Saturday, Mar 29 - 7:30pm

Sunday, Mar 30 - 2:30pm -- www.orlandoballet.org