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Still, as Danielle Brown offered her hand to Ricardo Graziano and led him in a slow walk towards the light in the final minutes of the ballet, I wondered if they were walking towards peace … heaven … love. I am not sure. Instead, I was left with the feeling that an individual is only a small part of a gigan- tic puzzle when war is declared. But given the success of Lux Aeterna, hopefully, Will Tuckett will continue to create new ballets for Sarasota. BALANCHINE Though Tuckett's new ballet was the focus of the evening, the program opened with a look to the past. Four Temperaments, George Balanchine's stunning neo-classical ballet set to Paul Hindemith's haunting score for piano and string orchestra, has been a major influence on both 20th and 21st century cho- reographers since its first performance in 1946. It is a stark devilishly difficult ballet with subtle musicality and strong complex choreography that suggests medieval ideas about human nature. Though the ballet uses each of the temperaments as a motivating impulse, Four Temperaments is essentially a ballet about the ways the human body can respond in time and space to music, and the choreography both reflects and comments on the music. As the ballet opens, a woman (Ellen Overstreet) and a man (Daniel Pratt) stand side-by-side on an empty stage. She carefully points her foot and then they take each oth- er's hands and he supports her arabesque, as the first theme responds to a hint of the score's beautiful music. In the second pas de deux of this leotard ballet — which reveals every gesture and every step of the dancers' bodies — Kristianne Kleine was ably part- nered by Daniel Rodriguez. And in the final and third theme, Victoria Hulland, partnered by Jamie Carter, used her feet like a cat paw- ing the floor. The choreography in Four Temperaments is fast and intricate, with thrusting hips, flexed wrists and legs that punch the air like weap- ons. However, the secret to Balanchine's world goes beyond the steps, and Logan Learned in the sad Melancholic variation embodied the The original cast performs Sir Frederick Ashton's Sinfonietta. Contributed photo Sarasota News Leader February 7, 2014 Page 100