The Houston Ballet kicks it up a notch today with Gershwin Glam, a program featuring The Core, a new work by Stanton Welch that’s an ode to George Gershwin and his main stage, New York City. Performers in ‘40s attire (think flirty skirts and lots of leg) will dance to the composer’s Piano Concerto in F against a period backdrop of New York skyscrapers, lampposts and fire escapes. The number may remind some of Broadway’s mid-century heyday — another source of inspiration for Welch.

Christopher Bruce’s brutalist Swansong and George Balanchine’s classic Serenade round out the program. Wortham Center, 501 Texas Avenue. For information and a full schedule, call 713-227-2787 or visit www.houstonballet.org. $17 to $125.

Thu., Feb. 21, 7:30 p.m.; Sat., Feb. 23, 7:30 p.m.; Sun., Feb. 24, 2 p.m.; Fri., Feb. 29, 7:30 p.m.; Sat., March 1, 2 & 7:30 p.m.; Sun., March 2, 2 p.m., 2008

This article appears in Feb 21-27, 2008.