As the slave Ali in The Washington Ballet's Le Corsaire, he flew through his manege before whipping out an applause-reaping, 540-degree spinning rivoltade. While physically gifted, Mack packs more than a dance bag of virtuosic tricks.

They set the stage for a contest of sorts, with both men and women breaking out one by one to display smooth moves: a sensual undercurve, a dashing rivoltade. As Jonathan Porretta wound his way through the tangle of men and women, he showed that verticality is just a matter of taste and perspective.