Peerless in the realm of abstract ballet, George Balanchine was also a masterful storyteller. His version of The Nutcracker is widely familiar, a holiday tradition that’s inspired Nutcracker productions around the world. His finest narrative creation, however, is the two-act ballet he drew from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Balanchine knew the play intimately and could quote it at length. He choreographed his Midsummer in 1962, when his young company was still defining itself. The plum roles are those of the fairy monarchs, Titania and Oberon, who represent the allure and virtuosity expected of a ballerina and danseur noble. Yet it is in the contrasts between the immortal fairies and the mortal lovers that Balanchine reveals the anchoring pathos of the story. He honors the high and low humor of its befuddled lovers and decadent fairies, while embodying profound undercurrents in the text. —Matthew Brookoff