The final programme in New York City Ballet’s London season is the populist one. Here we have George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins and Peter Martins bringing the iconic images of popular American culture on to the ballet stage.

In the case of Martins, it’s the glamorous nightclubs of 1930s Manhattan that inspire his opening ballet, Thou Swell (2003), set to songs by Richard Rodgers, the king of Broadway. Some are sung (badly, as it turns out), others orchestrated (all credit here to conductor Fayçal Karoui for a lively performance). The choreography involves Martins trying to be chic and sultry and not quite succeeding on either count.

Wednesday night’s cast, with the notable exception of an energetic Sara Mearns, succumbed to the lethargy of his writing. The high kicks looked forced, the swoons faux and the sleek peacock poses for the men mostly passed them by. Pert cocktail waitresses tried to redress the balance, but elegance was elusive. The rest of the programme, though, is a total high.

The two Balanchine ballets are brilliant crowd-pleasers, and performances were outstanding. In the tambourine-wielding Tarantella (1964), Ashley Bouder and Daniel Ulbricht proved that they are a pair of dynamos when it comes to showing off their scintillating classical technique. Their playful high jinks were a sensation, their enthusiasm was off the meter and, boy, can Ulbricht jump. Western Symphony (1954), which is set to Hershy Kay’s orchestrations of classic American folk songs (Red River Valley et al), is like Symphony in C for cowboys. You can practically hear the clip clop of horses’ hooves and the giggle of dancehall girls in Balanchine’s deliriously pirouetting square dance. On opening night, Sterling Hyltin tantalised Albert Evans (and us) in the adagio, Teresa Reichlen kicked like crazy in the rondo and a terrific time was had by all.

It has been 50 years since West Side Story electrified Broadway, yet Robbins’s choreography has a thrill that defies the decades. Here it can be seen in his 1995 West Side Story Suite, which distills the musical’s choreography into a vibrant one-act ballet that demands singing from the cast as well as full-on, power jazz dancing.

The gentle love story of Tony and Maria (our modern day Romeo and Juliet) is set against the churning aggression of rival New York street gangs, and Robbins perfectly captures the mindless violence and restless hormonal energy of disaffected youth. The first cast were amazing. Damian Woetzel was a heroic Riff (the Mercutio figure), Benjamin Millepied a poignant Tony, Faye Arthurs all innocence as Maria, and Georgina Pazcoguin was explosive as the Latina firebrand Anita.

The season ends on Saturday 22 March, 2007, with this programme (it’s programme three tonight, the new work). If you can afford a ticket (they range from £20 to a staggering £95) go and enjoy. And let’s hope we don’t have to wait another 25 years to welcome New York City Ballet back to London.

Box office: 0870 1450200

Explore Stage

• Theatre

• Comedy

• Opera

• Dance

Editor's choice

• Here comes summer: our cultural must-sees
• Friends reunited: Sex and the City
• New country for old men