Ballo della regina was Balanchine's tribute to the ballet scenes in 19th-century opera, specifically to the blissfully danceable music in Verdi's Don Carlo. Even more specifically, it was his bouquet for Merrill Ashley, whose dancing had prodigious speed and musical clarity even at Mach one.

In the revival (supervised by Ashley and Bonita Borne) that opened the second San Francisco Ballet programme on Tuesday, Ballolooked as irresistible as ever, sunlit, effervescent, witty. It was well done by the corps de ballet, whose delight in dancing is a joy with this troupe, and bravely shown by Vanessa Zahorian and Gonzalo Garcia as the leading couple.