The Royal Ballet’s production of Sylvia premiered at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, in 1952, with choreography by Frederick Ashton. He used Léo Delibes delicate, sparkling score from the 1876 Paris premiere of the ballet, and created a Wedgwood realm, distinctly English, of mythological forests and pastoral amours. The ballet was fashioned around the Royal’s star ballerina, Margot Fonteyn, who was handsomely partnered by Michael Somes. Ashton’s Sylvia wasn’t performed after 1965, and come the new century it was thought to be lost. Except it wasn’t. Christopher Newton, a former ballet master under Ashton, was able to reconstruct it from memory and film clips. His restoration came back into Royal Ballet repertory in 2004 and into American Ballet Theatre’s in 2005. If you haven’t seen this ballet, now’s the time. It is bliss in every detail, a beautifully conceived and costumed confection. No other Sylvia can touch it. —Laura Jacobs