Winston-Salem -- NCSA will present Spring Dance featuring works by legendary choreographers Agnes de Mille, Merce Cunningham, Marius Petipa, and guest artist Heather Maloy, an alum, in a one-weekend run beginning May 8.

Spring Dance will be performed at 8 p.m. May 8-10 and at 2 p.m. May 11 at the Stevens Center of North Carolina School of the Arts, 405 West Fourth St., Winston Salem. Tickets are $12 for adults and $10 for students and seniors. For more information or to order tickets, call the NCSA Box Office at (336) 721-1945 or visit www.ncarts.edu/performances.

Agnes de Mille’s Rodeo is her most beloved and most frequently presented ballet. With its world famous score by Aaron Copland, Rodeo had its world premiere with the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo at the Metropolitan Opera House on Oct. 16, 1942. This touching story of a tomboy in search of love “is a celebration of the pluck and spirit of the American character.” (www.agnesdemilledances.com) Paul Sutherland, who was cast by de Mille as the Head Wrangler shortly after he joined American Ballet Theatre in 1957, is staging Rodeo for NCSA dance students. The ballet, which was first performed by NCSA in 1990, is rarely permitted be the de Mille estate to be performed by students.

Patricia Lent, a member of Merce Cunningham Dance Company from 1984-93, is staging Cunningham’s Duets. First performed on Feb. 26, 1980, Duets is composed of six distinctive duets performed to a musical score by John Cage.

Marius Petipa’s Paquita was first staged in 1847 in Saint Petersburg, Russia. In 1881, Petipa staged a new version with musical contributions by Leon Minkus. This version contains some of the most well-known compositions in ballet including the Pas de Trois, which will be presented by NCSA dance students. NCSA ballet faculty member Nina Danilova is staging this work for one male and two female dancers.

NCSA alumna Heather Maloy is creating a new contemporary ballet work for NCSA dance students. Maloy is a former soloist with North Carolina Dance Theatre and, in 2003, formed Terpsicorps Theatre of Dance in Asheville, N.C.

The North Carolina School of the Arts was the first state-supported, residential performing arts school in the nation. Today, it is a leading conservatory of international renown, offering professional training for careers in the performing, visual, and moving image arts.