Dancers and musicians in period costumes are on stage together. During the first set of eighteen waltzes the four couples, wearing formal evening dress and dancing slippers, dance in interweaving combinations in an intimate ballroom. After a brief lowering of the curtain they dance fourteen waltzes under a starry sky, the women wearing calf-length tulle skirts and toe shoes. They leave the stage; returning in the original costumes, they pause to listen to the final waltz. Within the strict three-quarter beat of music and dance, personal and romantic associations between the couples are implied.