The Royal Ballet has gone home. New York City Ballet and American Ballet Theatre are on vacation. So what’s a balletomane to do during the long hot months? Plenty. Here are five pleasant ways to quell that twitchy, I-missballet feeling until this fall.

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It’s almost inconceivable today that a ballet star could inspire the kind of broad enthusiasm that Fonteyn did when she made her American debut in 1949. But this exhibit bears witness to the dazzling spell she cast and the excitement she inspired.

In addition to the standard ballet performance photos – of which there are many – the exhibit chronicles the tizzy that surrounded her visits.There are photos of her dancing at the nightclub El Morocco, engraved invitations to Gracie Mansion for functions hosted by Mayor Abe Beame,and a dinner party snapshot of her and a partner,in plain clothes, doing a fish dive in someone’s living room. (How fun was that party?) Even after her first visit, subsequent appearances seemed to generate the same giddiness. A priceless 1976 Daily News photo shows Elizabeth Taylor and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis visiting Fonteyn back stage with the look of timid schoolgirls on their faces.

And for added measure, when I entered this exhibit, I witnessed an unbelievably sweet moment that put Fonteyn’s popularity in perspective. An elderly woman was dictating a message for the guest book that her young companion then wrote down. It went something like: “Dear Margot, thank you for the years of performances.You were an inspiration.”

Even Fonteyn’s smile is inspiring. Captured in about a dozen photos on one panel, a smiling Fonteyn makes Katie Couric look like a sullen sourpuss. It’s the kind of winning, cheerful grin that can’t be faked – that sort of radiance comes from within.

The exhibit cultivates (by way of the glowing quotes printed on the walls) the sense that Fonteyn was such a sweetheart you can’t even be envious of the haute couture outfits that Yves Saint Laurent made for her – many of which are on display. A woman this lovely deserved such finery.

The video section of the exhibit includes a clip of her with the baby-faced Saint Laurent during a fitting, and to see her interact with him is priceless.There is also a satisfying dose of performance footage, including Rudolf Nureyev with Fonteyn in “Romeo and Juliet,” as well as a clip of her working at the barre with a voice recording in which she talks about her life and work.

And if the exhibit only whets 150 1435 207 1446224 1435 289 144667 1474 167 1486your appetite for ballet, head upstairs to the Library for the Performing Arts, where there are hours worth of performances to borrow on tape or to watch right there, without leaving the air conditioning behind.

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lets danced by the Bolshoi Ballet. Within this set – titled “The Trilogy of Ballet: A Bolshoi Collection” – is “Giselle,” “The Nutcracker,” and “Romeo and Juliet.”The discs are only sold as a set for $39.95 and are available atkultur.comoramazon.com. (Or call 800-718-1300.)

The “Dance in America” series has also reissued “Choreography by Balanchine” on DVD. The two discs ($39.95 each atdancehorizons.com) contain two programs that cover some of George Balanchine’s greatest works. Mikhail Baryshnikov stars in “Prodigal Son” and “Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux” with Patricia McBride, which is on the same disc as Merrill Ashley in “Ballo della Regina.” The other disc includes “The Four Temperaments” and selections from “Jewels,” with Suzanne Farrell and Peter Martins in the “Diamonds” portion.

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American dance, written by the principal dance critic for the Village Voice since 1967. Ms. Jowitt was asked by the Robbins estate to write it, and as a result she had unfettered access to a wealth of personal and professional papers in the Robbins archives.

Among the fascinating passages on Robbins’s work at New York City Ballet is one anecdote that describes his intense reaction to seeing the company (which was then Ballet Society) in 1948. He was so stirred by Tanaquil LeClercq and “Symphony in C” that he wasted no time. “So I wrote George or Lincoln or someone over there, and said, ‘Do you need someone … Is there any way you need me?’ And they called and asked if I wanted to do a ballet, and also if I wanted to dance.”The rest is history – told in Ms. Jowitt’s very readable prose.

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The Universal Ballet’s artistic director Oleg Vinogradov – who was the artistic director of the Kirov Ballet for nearly 25 years – created this production in 2002, and it will offer much to compare and contrast with Sir Kenneth MacMillan’s version. The company – making its fourth tour of the U.S.-will perform for a limited engagement, July 30 and 31, at New York State Theater with the City Opera orchestra.

Mr. Vinogradov has dispensed with Juliet’s nurse, though the doomed girl still does have her little friends. He’s also added an epilogue with a scene in which men and women in modern dress light candles by the graves of the lovers (which falls under the category of “things that make you go hmmm”).There are three acts and two intermissions – the stand – but still, be sure to eat well beforehand. There’s a directly proportional relationship between how far a company travels to New York and how long its full-length ballets are.

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lightful way to keep yourself awake during pointless conference calls.For a look at ABT stars (there are more former dancers than current) demonstrating steps, go to abt.org, then click on “Education and Training,” and select “Library.”Catch Angel Corella doing a tour de force,as many times as you like. Or see Jose Manuel Carreno’s buttery pirouette a la second again and again and again.

One or all of these things should get you through until ballet is back on stage and all is right with the world.