"Slaughter on Tenth Avenue"

I doubt we'd get another full scale revival of On Your Toes, an admittedly dated gem from Rodgers and Hart. But perhaps Encores! would give this generation the chance to see George Balanchine's legendary choreography recreated. This is a clip of Lara Teeter and Tony-winner Natalia Makarova performing a large section of "Slaughter on Tenth Avenue" from the hit 1983 revival. The ballet appears at the climax of the musical, its story that of a hoofer (originally Ray Bolger in 1936) who falls in love with a dance hall girl, in turn shot by her jealous gangster boyfriend, who himself is killed by the hoofer. The musical itself has parallel story going on - two gangsters are waiting to kill the hoofer playing the hoofer when the ballet finishes and he continues to dance after the ballet is over in an attempt to save his own life. The piece was incorporated into the repertoire of the New York City Ballet over forty years ago.