Performer: Lars Nelson

New York City Ballet dancing Balanchine's A Midsummer Night's Dream is the happiest way to end a long season.

The fall season opens with three Balanchine ballets and what felt like a gesture of thanks to a trio of ballerinas for their many years of service to the company.

Yet the audience loved it, just as they love every performance of A Midsummer's Night DreamI've ever attended. This ballet is a tribute to Shakespeare, a tribute to love, a tribute to dance. One walks out feeling as if one's "soul is in the sky."