There are many ballet luminaries but few superstars like Suzanne Farrell. She joined the New York City Ballet in 1961 and became muse to legendary choreographer George Balanchine. After performing in more than 100 ballets in 28 years, Farrell now stages her late mentor's works internationally. This weekend the Suzanne Farrell Ballet brought two programs to Northrop Auditorium in Minneapolis and confirmed that Balanchine's artistry remains strikingly relevant and innovative in the 21st century.

Friday night's mixed repertory program opened with 1956's "Pas d'Action" from "Divertimento No. 15" and established several Balanchine trademarks, including precise footwork and shifting tableaux that convey the romance within Mozart's composition. But the defining moment came in "Contrapuntal Blues pas de deux" from "Clarinade," set to Morton Gould's beatnik-inspired jazz. This 1964 work showcases Balanchine's defiance of traditional technique by introducing rocking motion into the hips and engaging the dancers in constant, abstract sculptural interactions. Elisabeth Holowchuk and Ted Seymour infused the piece with the hipster-night-on-the-town vibe it requires.

The program also included 1957's "Agon," with music by Igor Stravinsky. Ballet, jazz and even flashes of flamenco merge within the choreography, reflecting Balanchine's interest in symmetry, flexed feet and wrists, and changing levels to connote different relationships among the performers. The company -- a solid group with some members better equipped to interpret Balanchine's intricacies than others -- performed with seamless unity despite a dancer's injury.

Saturday's program featured nine pas de deux selections with the bonus of Farrell introducing each one. Balanchine once told her, "You must know the rules and then you may break the laws -- the ballet laws," and indeed he revolutionized the relationship between dancers beginning in 1928 with "Apollo," his oldest surviving ballet. Natalia Magnicaballi and Michael Cook elegantly portrayed the slow-burning sensuality between Apollo and one of his muses, Terpsichore.

Another standout was 1954's "The Unanswered Question" from "Ivesiana," in which Holowchuk hovers just beyond reach of her tormented partner. And 1963's "Meditation," the first ballet "Mr. B." made for Farrell, is a rush of restless passion. The afternoon ended with "Stars and Stripes" (1958) set to John Philip Sousa marches. It was the most structurally obvious and forced work of the program, suggesting that Balanchine's seemingly endless creative resources were better suited to displays of visual poetry than overt patriotism.

Caroline Palmer writes regularly about dance.