Dance

Few ballet companies are as respected as the Boston Ballet (19 Clarendon St., 617/695-6950, www.bostonballet.org [1]), which has been performing classic and modern interpretations of the form for 40 years. Its annual productions of The Nutcracker, performed at the Opera House, are internationally famous.

A younger ballet company, which puts its emphasis on the dancing rather than costumes or sets, is the Jose Mateo Dance Theatre (400 Harvard St., Cambridge, 617/354-7467, www.ballettheatre.org [2]). It performs in the Sanctuary Theatre, a beautifully restored Gothic church in Cambridge [3].