The Chicago-based Joffrey Ballet’s weekend run (March 7–8) at Zellerbach Hall, presented by Cal Performances, gave its fans an unusually brilliant show.

Choreographer Nicolas BlancSunday afternoon’s high point in an entire mountain range of them was Nicolas Blanc’s Beyond the Shore. Blanc, from France, was a principal dancer at the San Francisco Ballet from 2003 to 2009. While he was there, he choreographed two works for SF Ballet School trainees.