Boston Ballet: After a gala performance on Oct. 12, Boston Ballet kicks off its season with a work it has had lots of opportunity on to fine tune during its recent tour of Spain, August Bournonville’s “La Sylphide” (pictured). The oldest existing choreography in the classical ballet repertoire and the first great romantic ballet, Bournonville’s 1836 masterpiece presents the wistful, fantastical fable of a young man who abandons his fiancée when he becomes enraptured by the vision of a bewitching sylph. It’s paired with two rarely-performed Balanchine/Stravinsky works, “Monumentum pro Gesualdo” and “Movements for Piano and Orchestra.” Oct. 18-28, Wang Theatre. 800-447-7400, bostonballet.org, telecharge.com

-- KAREN CAMPBELL

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