UNITE—the two-program ballet festival that American Ballet Theatre’s lithe and lyrical principal dancer, Calvin Royal III, has organized for the Joyce Theater—is many things at once. It’s an old-fashioned gala, with starry representatives of international companies wowing us with the best bits from the warhorses (Scheherazade, Romeo and Juliet, and Manon), plus pas de deux from Balanchine’s Apollo and Preljocaj’s Le Parc to keep us on our toes. It’s a gathering of Calvin’s far-flung dancer friends, among whom the most ambitious (or foolhardy) will test their choreographic chops. And it’s a dreamy vision of a more inclusive and expansive ballet stage, filled with many more dancers of color than is the norm and peppered with queer pairings. UNITE indeed. —Apollinaire Scherr