Benjamin Millepied has done his most mature and engaging work in On the Other Side for his L.A. Dance Project which had its premiere in London last spring and was performed in LA for the first time this past weekend. Mark Bradford did the beautiful, color-popped set and Alessandro Sartori the complementary costumes. Benjamin makes his dancers work hard, they spin and glide at breakneck speed. There were echoes for me in this piece of Dances at a Gathering, the Jerome Robbins piece which I had just seen at NY City Ballet so it was fresh in my mind. The duets and trios that populate this work are feisty and fearless. Also on the program was enchanting dancer Carla Korbes (also a company associate director) in the Wendy Whelan role in Chris Wheeldon’s After the Rain. She’s quite different but equally special. Acts for the Blind by Roy Assaf reminded me of the Uncle Thomas sequence in The King and I with its charming spoken biographical narrative. The Ace Theater is gorgeous in all its over-the-top encrusted glory and makes contemporary halls seem tame. All this to say: we are so lucky in Los Angeles to have Benjamin back.