Annual gala shows off Ballet West's stars

Finally, the company performed Nicolo Fonte’s evocative “Bolero” to Ravel’s famous score. Katherine Lawrence began on a silent stage, her lithe musculature lengthening and retracting against stark sidelights. Michael Bearden joined her in a breathtaking partnership as more dancers appeared from behind several metal sheets hung vertically.

Various pairings elicited audible gasps from the audience as bodies interlocked, then dissipated into separate sequences, folding and unfolding, crouching, turning and extending with astonishing length.

Especially jaw-dropping was the brief pas de trois between Jacqueline Straughan, Adrian Fry and Christopher Anderson where Straughan is propped over the heads of the men, her long legs turning with measure like the slow ripple of a pinwheel being blown into motion.

Those in attendance not competing later in the dance-off may well have felt compelled to dance — be it in the privacy of their own homes. Either way, the inspiration was palpable.