Rachmaninov's Prelude in C# minor became our prelude to the whole ballet. The bold opening chords served as a great introduction to the cast of characters. You'll see this in "Act III" which is coming up: on each chord, my lighting designer Susannah Hewson brought in a sharply-focused downspot onto each of the characters. The stark overhead light made ominous, craggy shadows on the character's face and the pool of light formed the square in which s/he stood.

The trip to Italy to set the work on the company there loomed in the near future. There were long-distance calls and faxes at odd hours sprinkled throughout the last-minute preparations for the performances at Lincoln Center.

Finally, opening night arrived…