DANCE
MONDAY - SATURDAY, JULY 2 - 7*
7:30 PM MONDAY, TUESDAY, THURSDAY & FRIDAY
8:00 PM SATURDAY
2:00 PM WEDNESDAY, FRIDAY & SATURDAY

Alexei Ratmansky:  Whipped Cream
American Ballet Theater
Metropolitan Opera House
30 Lincoln Center Plaza, Upper West Side, Manhattan

$22-$235
https://www.abt.org/events/whipped-cream/

A reader questioned why I keep recommending these Ratmansky-recreates-the-style-of-classic-ballet pieces, when they're so reactionary as to seem at war with this List's aesthetic.  But it's interesting:  if these pieces only had a smidgen of irony, they'd be post-modern.  But they don't:  they are exactly what they celebrate (and don't at all mock).  And this one, at least, is GREAT:  a clever, witty, endlessly entertaining spectacle -- what those classic story ballets would be if they were a little bit smarter.  I would hate to meet a person who didn't enjoy it.  (FWIW, the Monday night/Saturday matinée cast looks the best to me -- but don't not go on other days on that account.)

MAKE A NIGHT OF IT:  How I wish the Eclair were still open on 72nd Street:  a good Viennese pastry shop is what you'll want after this ballet devoted to Viennese pastry.  But alas, no.  If you go to a matinée, Épicerie Boulud should hit the spot (even if the pastries trend French rather than Mitteleuropean).  Evening performances, I guess Bar Boulud.