Like a pair of excited sparrows, the slender-fingered hands of Jamey Leverett, artistic director of the Rochester City Ballet, repeatedly flutter up from the conference table, conveying her excitement as she describes her newest ballet during a recent interview.

As yet unnamed, the four-part, contemporary ballet was choreographed by Leverett in conjunction with the music of the Cello Divas, a local four-person cello ensemble. The Divas will be onstage with the dancers when the ballet premieres as part of a larger program at the Nazareth College Arts Center this weekend.

"Cello pieces have a lot of feeling to them," says Leverett. "They hit me in the right place. There is an energy and a quirkiness to cello music. It's fun to create to."

Repeated fragments of dance vocabulary act as bridges between the four sections of the ballet. Besides the uniting cello music, the ballet's parts pay homage to ethnic dance, especially in the use of hand and arm movement.

This is especially apparent in "Trugnala Rumjana," the third part of the ballet. The section brings to mind Indian or Korean dance; the undulating hips, weaving arms, and articulate hands of the all-women ensemble hint at a shared knowledge and feminine mystique.

"Bach Air," another section of the new ballet, is slower, somber, even minimalist at times. In rehearsal, the poignancy of the music was expressed particularly succinctly through the beseeching expression of Jordan Drew, 17, as she reached, reached, reached toward something just offstage. Katie Lally, 19, managed to infuse even a basic developpé with sensuality; you could trace the line of energy as she slid her working foot up along the inner thigh of her standing leg and then extended it up and out, culminating in a subtle flick through her toes. Her work made it clear why she holds the title role in "Carmen," which will be the concluding ballet in the company's upcoming performance.

The last section, "Sevdalino," is a Spanish-influenced piece with plenty of quick, small movements. At a recent rehearsal, some of the dancers' faces showed the strain of the fast and technically demanding footwork.

"It's O.K. to smile. Enjoy yourselves a little," Leverett said from the back of the studio before jumping up and striding across the room to demonstrate a move, her body as lean and lithe as her dancers.

"Blue Funk" is the first part of the ballet, its score composed by Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra conductor Jeff Tyzik. The moodiness of this section is expressed through languid, swinging movements and low-to-the-ground poses held for prolonged times. Jim Nowakowski, 17, appears in full Puck-ishness here, his compact, sinewy body exploding through leaps and jumps before slackening into the carefree movement of the music.

Nowakowski started dancing before he turned 3, and became a company member of RCB in 2002, when he was just 13. He's diminutive in size but already brimming with obvious talent. These days, the Webster Thomas senior is garnering high praise. In March he took home the top prize at The Youth America Grand Prix Regional Semi-finals. In January, he earned a Gold Award at the prestigious National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts Recognition and Talent Search. None other than the legendary Mikhail Baryshnikov will present Nowakowski with his $10,000 check at the Foundation's performance and ceremony in New York City this summer.

Nowakowski may well become a legend himself someday. Certainly by next year he will be gone - snapped up by a top dance company eager to have him. "Jim has an extraordinary raw talent," Leverett says. "He's a knock-your-socks-off kind of dancer."

Leverett herself received Most Outstanding Choreographer for her ensemble piece "Symbion" at the Grand Prix. The Timothy M. Draper Center for Dance Education, the feeder school for the RCB, was awarded Most Outstanding School. Dancers Brittany Shinay and Jordan Drew received first and second place awards respectively. Both women will be dancing in this weekend's performance.

Besides Leverett's new ballet, three other ballets will be presented at this weekend's "Divas" show: "Push and Pull," "Respect," and "Carmen." Leverett created "Push and Pull" in 2003 based on her observations of a modern dance class' exercise in opposites. The piece is performed entirely on pointe (excepting the two male dancers).

The jazzy "Respect," danced to the music of Aretha Franklin, is more Ailey than Balanchine and is a surefire audience-pleaser. And then there's "Carmen," choreographed on Katie Lally by Edward Ellison when he was guest artist with RCB last year. With Lally's dark, sultry looks and flirtatious appeal, she promises to deliver a scathing Carmen. Nowakowski appears here as the matador, a role he relishes for its technical difficulty along with its pure fun and energy.

"I play the stud that everyone loves," he laughs. "I do a lot of flirting with Carmen."

Don Jose will be danced by guest artist Octavio Martin, a senior soloist with the Sarasota Ballet.

Rochester City Ballet presents "Divas" at Nazareth College Arts Center Friday and Saturday, May 11 and 12, at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $20-$38. For more information call 389-2170 or visit www.rochestercityballet.org.