“Opening the performance is the upbeat Take Five…More or Less, which pairs lively improv-based dance with the toe-tapping jazz of legendary musicians Paul Desmond and Dave Brubeck. Tony Award-winning Broadway director and choreographer Susan Stroman concocted this very ensemble piece in 2008 for Pacific Northwest Ballet’s Laugh Out Loud! Festival. Stroman was exploring the way in which some of the best art happens when dancers and musicians, who can’t help but want to perform, begin improvising on their five-minute break. When the curtain rose at the top of the piece on opening night, the audience erupted in applause for Kaori Nakamura, alone on stage — before she moved a muscle. However, she earned the applause with her usual levitating grace. Also of particular note were Lesley Rausch’s femme fatale and Kiyon Gaines’ debonair soft shoe.”