"Ballet is an incredibly difficult, beautiful art form that takes a lot of training, a lot of time,
and a lot of hard work."

— Sutton Foster

Justin Peck is a quiet, disciplined, and talented New York City Ballet dancer. He is a member of the Corps de Ballet (the lowest tier of dancers) who has been commissioned to choreograph a premier for the NYCB's 2013 Winter Season. Peck has two months to create "Pas de la Jolla," the company's 422nd new ballet.

It is an absolute delight to watch Peck at work: the creation of the thousands of body movements for the dancers; the meticulous rehearsals with the leads; the collaboration that is part of the process of the ballet as a living organism; the meetings with costumers and lighting designers; and the major partnership with conductor Andrews Still and the orchestra.

"The ballet needs to tell its own story in such a way it can be received without having to be translated into language."

— Twyla Tharp

Set to the dramatic music of Bohuslav Martinu's Sinfonietta la Jolla, Peck's ballet is inspired by the choreographer's upbringing in Southern California and features three principal dancers and 15 corps de ballet members. Director Jody Lee Lipes does an exquisite job conveying the energy and vibrant movement of the dancers as they create intricate patterns on the large stage.

"Being a former dancer, classical dancer, it informed me as a human being just in terms of the grace I guess. Ballet is a very graceful form of art. You also become very aware of your body and your mind and your body is working in conjunction."

— Zoe Saldana

Ballet 422 opens our eyes to ballet as a most graceful form of art. It also helps us to appreciate how each choreographed move is the result of the body and the mind moving beautifully in conjunction.

"I love ballet because you can see
how beautiful the body is."

— Carine Roitfeld