Gentlemen, is your wife/girlfriend/significant other balking at your plan to spend big bucks on a plasma-screen, high definition television? Well, I’ve got the ultimate argument winning tactic for you. Forget trying to convince her with movies or sports. Your trump card is in the arts: HDTV can make dance on television look dazzling – better than it ever has before.

Of course, this might result in your actually having to watch full-length classical ballets. And before HDTV, I would have had sympathy for that hapless sports-obsessed guy who somehow got dragooned into watching “Giselle” on television. Performing arts intended for the stage are, most often, mind-numbing when recorded and played on the screen. But HDTV provides an enormous improvement over regular television. Watching dance on film can now be a fully engaging visual experience.

“There’s a huge qualitative difference. It’s more of a difference than looking at a painting and then a reproduction of it,” said Judy Kinberg, producer and director of Dance in America, a television showcase for dance.

Dance in America, which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year, has been a leader in bringing the best choreographers and dancers to a wider audience via television. That tradition continues on Monday, June 20 that 9 p.m. when Thirteen/WNET’s Great Performances will broadcast “Swan Lake,” danced by American Ballet Theatre at the Kennedy Center. The performance was recorded in HDTV, and if you’ve got the proper equipment on which to view this ballet, you’re in for a treat.

I had the opportunity to watch the ballet on an HD-capable screen, and I was floored by the difference. I’ve seen both of the lead dancers in this “Swan Lake” (Gillian Murphy and Angel Corella) many times in a variety of roles, but this technology allowed me to see details of their performances that I never would have caught otherwise. Facial expressions and hand gestures were newly fascinating. The tiny nuances of exactly where and how Ms. Murphy shifted her weight were clear. And when the camera pulled back for a wider view, it provided a stunning perspective of the intricate patterns made by the corps de ballet. Above all, the clarity and crispness of the colors had me mesmerized.

What HDTV offers is a higher aspect ratio, which is basically the ratio of the width to the height of the picture on the screen. (It’s not about the size of your television set.) Standard televisions have an aspect ratio of 4:3. HD capable screens have a ratio of 16:9. According to Ms. Kinberg, the big ballets that were created for the stage translate better into the wider format.

“The ratio lends itself well to proscenium stage,” she said. “The 4-by-3 format tended to squash the sides.”

For Ms. Kinberg and her team, the opportunity to use the new technology to present a major ballet was enticing. But there was another factor in the decision, too. “Swan Lake” is arguably the most important, certainly the most well-known, ballet in the classical repertory. For such a seminal work, a masterful cast is a must. With Ms. Murphy and Mr. Corella at the top of their game, Ms. Kinberg knew that the time was right.

“You have to have a fantastic couple. And we did,” she said. “We had never done ‘Swan Lake.’ Thirty years is long enough.”

If you don’t happen to have an HDTV, the Museum of Television and Radio is screening “Swan Lake” in HDTV tomorrow from 6-8:30 p.m. (Tickets are $15 and can be purchased by calling 212-621-6800). It’s a wonderful way to see “Swan Lake” if you won’t be able to catch the ABT run at the Met.

Or you’ve got about a week to buy an HD-capable TV before the PBS “Swan Lake” broadcast. At the electronics emporium J&R in Lower Manhattan, salesman John Burkhardt recommends that dance fans looking for an HD-capable television go for plasma over LCD screens. “Plasma handles motion better. It has a faster refresh rate than LCD,” he said, adding that prices at J&R range from $2,500 to $5,000. If that’s out of your budget, you can buy HD-capable screens that are not plasma for as little as $500.

The only drawback at the moment is that though PBS is broadcasting in HDTV, not everyone else is yet. On the other hand, according to the Time Warner Cable Web site, if you are already a Time Warner customer, there is no charge for upgrading to the HD-enabled cable box. Why not?

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On Thursday evening, ABT kicks off its celebration of Michel Fokine, one of the company’s founding choreographers. The celebratory bills include four of his works: “Les Sylphides,” “Petrouchka,” “Le Spectre de la Rose,” and “Polovtsian Dances.” These ballets are not regularly presented, so catching them now is a must. Plus, each bill allows audiences to see a variety of ABT principals.

The big (and sad) news is that Ethan Stiefel will not be dancing this week. Julio Bocca will replace him in “Petrouchka,” and Danny Tidwell will replace him in “Le Spectre de la Rose,” which will be a debut for Mr. Tidwell. Mr. Stiefel is still on the casting list for “Le Corsaire,” which runs June 23 to 30.

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Across the courtyard, on Sunday afternoon, New York City Ballet bids farewell to principal male dancer Jock Soto. It will be a tearful occasion, indeed. Mr. Soto set a lofty standard with his spare, elegant dancing. But he made a stratospheric mark with his partnering, especially with Wendy Whelan. Tender, certain, and powerful, Mr. Soto brought a sense of thoughtfulness to the stage. Let’s hope he passes that on as he continues to teach at the School of American Ballet. His farewell program includes “Barber Violin Concerto,” “Liturgy,” and “Chiaroscuro,” as well as excerpts from “West Side Story Suite” and “Union Jack.”

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While you’re milling about Lincoln Center this summer, don’t spend all your pre-curtain time sipping drinks at the Fountain Cafe. Wander over to the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts’s latest exhibit: “America’s Irreplaceable Dance Treasures: The First 100.”

The exhibit celebrates our nation’s rich and varied dance tradition by naming names. A list of 100 dance “treasures” was culled from 900 nominations by dance-world types and the public.

What constitutes a dance treasure? People like Martha Graham, Merce Cunningham, and Arthur Murray are easy picks. But on this list are also composers (Aaron Copland), events (Jacob’s Pillow), and places (Savoy Ballroom). They’re all represented in the exhibit either by photographs, artifacts, or film footage.

On view are Ted Shawn’s costume cape from “Xochitl,” a studio portrait of John Bubbles as Sportin’ Life in “Porgy and Bess,” and Lincoln Kirstein’s diary. Viewers can see dance footage on a large screen and access information about all of the individual dance treasures.

The exhibit, located in the Vincent Astor Gallery (111 Amsterdam Ave or through the Lincoln Plaza entrance), runs through August 20. Admission is free.