Geoffrey Gonzalez is the resident choreographer at City Ballet of San Diego.

(K.C. Alfred/The San Diego Union-Tribune)

This should be an exciting program of firsts. Resident choreographer Geoffrey Gonzalez premieres his new ballet, “An American in Paris,” set to a score by George Gershwin. His idea is to tell the story of a young, American fashion designer who travels to Paris in the 1950s and becomes inspired by the designs of the Chanel luxury fashion house. Paris was becoming a city of culture in the 1950s, a time when its female fashionistas dressed in ensembles with hats, gloves and fitted suits. Gonzalez is an imaginative young dancemaker, who dreams big when it comes to sets and costumes, and his choreography promises to be visually captivating. Elizabeth Wistrich premieres her new ballet, “Boléro — The Awakening,” to the Ravel masterpiece, always, from a musical standpoint, a study in sensuality. And City Ballet adds “Morphoses,” its first Christopher Wheeldon ballet, to its repertoire. I saw a rehearsal for the latter and the movement is so fast, if you blink, you’ll miss it. It’s technically demanding and an exciting challenge for the four principal dancers who will perform it.

March 16-17 at the Balboa Theatre, 868 Fourth Ave., downtown; and March 27 at the California Center for the Arts, Escondido, 340 N. Escondido Blvd., Escondido. cityballet.org