Just as a kiss awakens Princess Aurora at the end of Tchaikovsky’s The Sleeping Beauty, so did the ballet awaken in George Balanchine (1904-1983), founding choreographer of New York City Ballet, a life-enhancing passion. Balanchine was a student at the Imperial Ballet School in St. Petersburg when he first appeared onstage as Cupid in The Sleeping Beauty. “I sat on a gold cage in indescribable ecstasy, enjoying it all: the music, the theater and the fact that I was onstage,” he remembered. “Thanks to The Sleeping Beauty, I fell in love with ballet.” In 1981, he choreographed a section of the Tchaikovsky score, “The Garland Dance,” as a self-contained work for New York City Ballet. The company’s full-length production of The Sleeping Beauty (pictured), devised by Peter Martins, includes Balanchine’s steps

» The Sleeping Beauty, New York City Ballet, David H. Koch Theater, W. 63rd St., at Columbus Ave., 1-212-870-5570, Jan. 27-Feb. 7

One of the great joys of New York’s annual Winter Antiques Show, apart from the opportunity it provides connoisseurs to browse and shop the fully vetted booths of 75 respected international dealers in American, English, European and Asian fine and decorative arts, is the loan exhibition, the event’s centerpiece, which turns the spotlight on an American public collection. This year’s display is Colonial to Modern: A Century of Collecting at Historic New England, a compendium of treasures from the nation’s oldest, largest and most comprehensive regional heritage organization. Objects range from a pair of ladies’ silk brocade shoes (c. 1770) to a Bauhaus tea set, manufactured in Germany in 1969. In their day, many of the pieces, such as an elegant upholstered mahogany and ash armchair (right, c. 1797) by Philadelphia cabinetmaker Adam Hains, were considered cutting-edge. The chair, one of a set made for Theodore Lyman’s country estate in Waltham, Massachusetts, was in the latest fashion: the latest French fashion.

» Winter Antiques Show, Park Avenue Armory, Park Ave., at E. 67th St., 1-718-292-7392, Jan. 22-31

Photo: Lady Gaga

Breakout artist Lady Gaga takes the stage at Radio City Music Hall this month.

Not since Madonna shook up the 1980s has there been a female pop provocateur like Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, a.k.a. Lady Gaga (above). In just over a year, the former convent schoolgirl—and native New Yorker—has gone from near obscurity to fame as Best New Artist at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards. A fashion icon, who has been dressed by avant-garde designers such as Jean-Charles de Castelbajac, the 23-year-old insists she was a misfit growing up. “I didn’t fit in in high school,” she has said. “I felt like a freak. I wanted to be like Boy George.” Freak chic pays off this month with shows at Radio City Music Hall, followed by the Grammy Awards on Jan. 31. Gaga is nominated for five prizes, including Album, Record and Song of the Year.

» Lady Gaga, Radio City Music Hall, 1260 Sixth Ave., 1-800-745-3000, Jan. 20, 21, 23 and 24