There is a whole lot going on in Miami City Ballet’s world premiere performance of Alexei Ratmansky’s Symphonic Dances Thursday at the Adrienne Arsht Center.

First, there are the big artistic guns involved. Ratmansky, the Russian former director of the Bolshoi Ballet and current resident choreographer of American Ballet Theater, is the most famous and in-demand ballet choreographer in the world. A new Ratmansky ballet is an event in the dance world, and for Miami City Ballet to commission one — their second world premiere this season — significantly elevates the company’s status.

Add to that the famed Cleveland Orchestra performing the lush Rachmaninoff score for this night only, and you have a hyper-charged, high-stakes evening...