In this episode of Behind the Ballet, Elizabeth Kaye examines Signature Works through the marriage of works by two disparate yet irretrievably linked artists, Twyla Tharp and Marius Petipa. Kaye describes how Tharp, who turned classical ballet on its head in the 20^th century by fusing it with other dance elements, weds grace with athleticism in The Upper Room. In contrast to Tharp’s dynamic work is The Kingdom of the Shades, one of ballet’s most beloved classical gems. Created by Marius Petipa, the father of classical ballet, and later staged for American Ballet Theatre by Natalia Makarova in 1974, this extended scene from the ballet La Bayadère demonstrates the essence of classical ballet’s purity and precision. Finally, Kaye highlights the iconic pas de deux selected as part of the Signature Works program, including from George Balanchine’s Sylvia Pas de Deux, Twyla Tharp’s Sinatra Suite, and Lynne Taylor Corbett’s Great Galloping Gottschalk.