George Balanchine's Allegro Brillante

Ballet San Jose offers a mixed program April 13 through 15 to include three company premieres. The troupe, which has undergone an abrupt leadership change and now operates without an artistic director, appears at the San Jose Center for the Performing Arts in Program II of its 2012 spring season. It is worth noting that not a single work by indefatigable company founder and former artistic director Dennis Nahat will be performed this spring.

The April program includes choreographer Jessica Lang’s Splendid Isolation III, a Ballet San Jose premiere. A pas de deux (dance for two) set to music by Gustav Mahler, it concerns the psychologically binding rigors of the quest for physical perfection.

Bruch Violin Concerto, another company premiere, is only the second ballet choreographed by the late Clark Tippet. Showcasing four principal couples and a corps of 16, it is intended as commentary on – and no doubt, tribute to — the neo-classical style pioneered by George Balanchine.

One of Balanchine’s signature works, Allegro Brillante, is also on the program. For two principals and corps de ballet (ensemble), the unabashedly romantic piece is set to Tchaikovsky’s final composition, the unfinished Piano Concerto No. 3.

Choreographer Stanton Welch created Clear in the aftermath of 9/11. Bach’s Concerto for Violin and Oboe in C minor, together with segments of the Violin Concerto in G minor, fire this abstract study of social connection, featuring a male ensemble with solo female dancer.

Ballet San Jose’s Program III (May 4-6) is a production of Ben Stevenson‘s full-length Cinderella, set to Prokofiev‘s glorious score, with guest artist Sascha Radetsky of American Ballet Theatre as Prince Charming.