Mythical and Arcadian motifs in opera, classical music, and ballet are nothing new, but it’s always nice to remember that choreographers and composers have been mining these rich themes for generations. For instance, The New York Times reviews the American Ballet Theater’s revival production of “Sylvia” (aka “Sylvia ou La Nymphe de Diane”) and revels in the pure pagan pageantry of it all.

“The crescent, the moon, the horn and the hunt all tie brilliantly into Act I of “Sylvia,” which Ashton choreographed in 1952 and which American Ballet Theater has revived this week at the Metropolitan Opera House. The score is by Léo Delibes. Blow that horn! Or rather, those horns! None of the many hunts in music-drama prepare us for the full blaze that comes with the entrance of this ballet’s huntresses and, finally, Sylvia herself … No character in all ballet — and few in music drama — enters to more splendid music than Sylvia. She and her friends leap and do whipped (fouetté) turns, and the ballet moves into a new kind of scale and energy. Nobody has time to think what this says about gender stereotypes. The huntresses and pastoral hero of “Sylvia” were conceived not by Ashton in 1952 but by Delibes and his Paris colleagues in 1876, when Degas was painting ballet dancers and when, most of us tend to think, ballet stereotypes were thick on the ground.”

This ballet of pagan huntresses in love went on to inspire other works, including the more well-known “Swan Lake”. It’s lovely to see this unique gem get some attention (especially with themes that would delight the Pagan soul), if you’re in New York and want to see experience “Sylvia”, it’s running through Saturday at The Met.