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Ballet West's "Iconic Classics" honors seminal choreographers George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins and Jirí Kylián — a trinity that forever changed classical and contemporary ballet, and Broadway jazz. Balanchine energized classical ballet with height, line, speed and musicality. Robbins organically integrated dance into Broadway plot lines and adapted them for screen with ingenious camera angles. And Kylián absorbed the physicality of modern dance into classical technique creating an emotionally rich and grounded hybrid.

But that doesn't mean there isn't plenty of fun to be had as Ballet West kicks off its 52nd season tonight. The Tribune asked the three opening-night lead dancers in "Fancy Free" — Adrian Fry, Chase O'Connell and Joshua Whitehead — a few questions about the ballet, their parts and the future of ballet.

'Fancy Free' is about three American sailors on a 24-hour leave in New York City during wartime 1944. They meet a woman and vie for her attention. The three of you are costumed in identical sailor suits — what sets you apart from each other?

Whitehead • Right at first we were Variation 1, Variation 2 and Variation 3.

O'Connell • That turned into First One On, Second One On and Third One On.

Fry • Eventually it became Rumba Guy (Chase), Splits Guy (Joshua) and Wheat Guy (me).

I understand Chase's character is a smooth city guy who charms the girl with a rumba-rolling hip move, and Joshua is athletic, jumping off the bar stool into extreme splits. But Wheat Guy, Adrian?

Fry • My guy is from the Midwest and has never seen anything taller than a two-story building. He's kinda gullible and just really pumped to be there. In auditions when they described this character, everybody looked at me and I was like, "Hey, I've been out of town before!" But my wife [Ballet West dancer Jordan Richardson] said she'd never seen a more perfect role for me, so. …

Are you happy with your part, or would you have preferred one of the other two?

Whitehead • All the guys in the company auditioned, so there were five guys auditioning for each of the three parts. I just kept slipping to the back of the line trying to loosen up for the splits.

O'Connell • I am very happy with my part, I didn't want to have to do a tour into the splits and be jumping over bar stools.

Whitehead • Chase's variation is technically difficult and long.

O'Connell • It's long but it's not dangerous!

Fry • Chase is the leader of the pack, Joshua is the younger bro always ready to go, and I'm the lost, neglected middle child, just happy to be there.

Kipling Houston (répétiteur for the Jerome Robbins Foundation) conducted auditions. He worked with Robbins and Balanchine; was he hard to please?

Whitehead • We learned the variations, but then we didn't dance them for a long time. Kipling would nitpick at these tiny seemingly incidental parts, like when each of us flicks a gum wrapper in the air.

Fry • We spent hours naturalizing our reactions. We would do very classical-looking steps and Kipling would say, "This is not the place for balletic movements — you need to respond as who you are and as if you were really on a street."

O'Connell • We also worked on stopping and moments of stillness to allow the audience to see it, as if in frame-by-frame pictures.

"Fancy Free" was the precursor to the 1944 Broadway musical "On the Town." Then, this past season two ballet professionals with no previous Broadway experience were nominated for or won Tony Awards for the musical "An American in Paris" [choreographer Christopher Wheeldon and Utah-born New York City Ballet principal Robert Fairchild]. Are we returning to a ballet-Broadway crossover?

Fry • Dance in the 1930s and '40s was not so separated because there weren't ballet companies across the country. Then when ballet and modern companies were established throughout the U.S., dance became defined or specialized. Nowadays, much more is expected of dancers, and ballet is more inclusive and more global. "Iconic Classics" is an example of a return to but also a broadening of that original vision.

Would you want to perform on Broadway?

O'Connell • It would be thrilling to perform every night to the energy of a sold-out Broadway house. I don't know any dancer who would turn down the paycheck or the opportunity. I would definitely try it.

Fry • Really, Chase? Because I've heard you sing. …

Whitehead • On our tour last month to Minnesota, we sold out the 2,700-seat Northrop Theater [Capitol Theater capacity is 1,876]. Afterward, people were coming up and asking if we'd also trained as actors, which was pretty cool.

Does the humor of postwar male-female flirting hold up in the 21st century?

Whitehead • Kipling stressed that the style of the relationships is very juvenile — these guys are 17 years old.

O'Connell • It needs to be played very young and with a certain amount of innocence, because we are chasing this girl down the street and this is not OK anymore. In the end, she is in control and asserts herself.

Fry • However, when we put our costumes on, all the girls in the company were falling all over us — thinking we were so handsome in uniform. So, it truly stands the test of time from 1940s till now.

Are you nervous for opening night?

Whitehead • We're like a unit now. It's so fun that I have to calm myself down.

Fry • We're never facing toward the audience — the performance energy that usually comes from the audience is more between us. It's more about the work we've done.

O'Connell • The countless details we worked on have become so natural and goes by so quickly, I can't even remember what seemed so hard in the beginning. —

'Iconic Classics'

Ballet West's season opener is a triple bill featuring:

'Fancy Free' • Jerome Robbins' and Leonard Bernstein's playful ballet follows three young sailors on leave during World War II. The ballet inspired the popular 1944 Broadway musical "On the Town."

'Overgrown Path' • BW has previously performed two of celebrated choreographer Jirí Kylián's ballets – "Sinfonietta" and "Petite Mort." Audiences will see a different side of Kylián in "Overgrown Path," set to a solo piano cycle by Leoš Janácek.

'Symphony in C' • George Balanchine's multifaceted ballet embodies Georges Bizet's melodic symphony. Each movement corresponds to a different choreographic theme, with abstract patterns and motifs for the full corps de ballet, each led by a changing set of principal dancers. A cast of 50 dancers.

When • Friday, Nov. 6, 7 p.m.; Saturday, Nov. 7, 7:30 p.m.; Nov. 11-14, 7:30 p.m.; and Nov. 14, 2 p.m.

Where • Capitol Theatre, 50 W. 200 South, Salt Lake City

Running time • 2:20 with two intermissions

Tickets $20-$80 • ArtTix, http://www.balletwest.org, 801-869-6900 or the box office; discounts for groups of 15 or more at 801-869-6900

Details • All tickets for the opening-night performance tonight include a red-carpet welcome, postshow dessert reception, live music and special prize drawings. 'Fancy Free' plot

The scene is a bar and the outside sidewalk during World War II in New York City. Three young sailors on their first leave boisterously tumble into the bar looking for a drink and hoping for some female companionship. A beautiful young woman enters and the three sailors vie for her attention. She shows little interest and leaves. Two of the sailors continue to follow. The third, feeling rejected by her and his two buddies, stays behind only to have the good fortune of running into another attractive passerby. He invites her for a drink and attempts to impresses her with a pantomime of his military exploits, and they dance a passionate pas de deux.

The other two sailors return with the first women, who recognizes the second woman as a friend. The sailors realize their predicament: three men, but only two women. Finally, it is decided that the three sailors will hold a contest and the loser will go dateless. Each sailor performs a solo, but the women can't decide and the men end up in a fight, during which time the women leave. Seeing their dates vanish, the sailors make friends again and head outside. Another beautiful woman walks past, and the three sailors take off in hot pursuit.