Few stories are more embedded in the American psyche than John Steinbeck’s “Of Mice and Men,” which virtually all middle-school or high-school students read at some point in their English classes.

Published in 1937, John Steinbeck’s famous novella centers on two Depression-era migrant farm workers–Lennie, a good-hearted but mentally disabled giant, and George, his loyal if sometimes disgruntled friend and guardian.

Because of its narrative simplicity and emotional power, this story, which takes a tragic turn when Lennie accidentally kills another worker’s wife, turns out to be well-suited to adaptation as a ballet.

That became clear Wednesday evening when the Joffrey Ballet presented the world premiere of Cathy Marston’s intense, involving dance setting of the book in a program paired with George Balanchine’s “Serenade.” The duo offering runs for nine more performances through May 8.

Marston, a British choreographer whose credits include an adaptation of “Jane Eyre” that the Joffrey Ballet presented in 2019, is adept at conveying character through movement–the sneering aggressiveness of Curley (Fernando Duarte) or the hunched awkwardness of Lennie (Dylan Gutierrez).

After an opening sequence, in which the entire story is foretold in dreamy, fast-action fashion, the action largely follows the book, with one scene blending into the next, with high-energy athleticism, push-off partnering and leg-extended turns propelling the action forward.

The ballet runs about 55 minutes, and it could probably benefit from a slight trim to make the action and storytelling more streamlined and focused. It would also have been nice to get more of a sense of the closeness between George and Lennie, perhaps in a calm moment early on.

Marston’s most inventive and insightful intervention is portraying George with two dancers. They are dressed alike and meant to convey the different, sometimes conflicted sides of the character, one who feels a commitment and almost familial bond to Lennie and the other who wants to be free and independent.

The scenes with the three dancers are the ballet’s focal points, with the Xavier Nunez and Alberto Velazquez turning in powerful, well-matched performances as George, and Gutierrez potently conveying the gawky innocence and child-like impulses of Lennie.

The ballet is set to a largely effective, vaguely roots-tinged score by Academy Award-nominated composer Thomas Newman, with conductor Scott Speck and the Lyric Opera Orchestra performing in conjunction with a recorded track of sound effects and altered instrumental sounds. Piano, guitar and solo violin take the lead with sharp chords and dissonances along the way conveying the darker moods.

Demonstrating the Joffrey’s impressive versatility, perhaps its greatest strength, the evening opened in an entirely different realm emotionally, stylistically and aesthetically. The company presented its first-ever performance of “Serenade” (1935), the first work created in the United States by George Balanchine, arguably the most distinguished choreographer of the 20th century.

This upbeat, vibrant work for 26 dancers, with the women in flowing blue tutus, was built around a class in dance technique and was originally set on students. It showcases some of the trademark qualities of Balanchine’s choreography, including speedy footwork, interweaving, ever-evolving patterns, and use of the corps de ballet as not just decoration but as integral parts of the ballet.

There are many iconic moments in “Serenade,” none more so than the opening, which features 17 dancers in a double-diamond pattern standing serenely with one arm raised gently to the right with the palm out. After a few gradual changes in arm position, the women snap their parallel feet into standard first position–a shift that remains startling no matter how many times one sees this work.

Even though this ballet is more than 80 years old, it feels utterly contemporary. There is something eminently satisfying and reassuring about watching this piece, where every gesture, every step feels just right. That is a definition of a classic, which this work most definitely is.

The dancing in this work was universally strong with the speed, precision and elegance this work demands. Stand-out individual performances include Gayeon Jung and Stefan Goncalvez as the soloists in the waltz section and the spunky presence and nimble footwork of Valeria Chaykina.

The pairing of these two very different ballets, one narrative and one abstract, one grim and one upbeat, is unquestionably jarring. One suspects that these striking contrasts, as well as the proportional emphasis on women in “Serenade” and men in “Of Mice and Men,” were the very reasons the two were put together, and, in the end, the juxtaposition works.

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During the Blackhawks’ general manager search, former Cubs executive Jeff Greenberg emerged as a surprise finalist but ultimately lost out to Kyle Davidson.

Less than two months later, however, Greenberg joined the Hawks nonetheless. He was hired Thursday as associate GM.

Greenberg and Norm Maciver, who was hired away from the Kraken last month to also serve as an associate GM, will support Davidson as the three-man leadership team heading the Hawks’ front office.

“[Jeff] reached out to congratulate me after I was named general manager, and we connected instantly over our parallel paths, shared love for hockey and vision for this sport’s future,” Davidson said in a statement. “I’m excited for our fans to see what he, alongside Norm, can bring as key voices at the table — a table that will continue to grow with other leaders we will add to the team.”

Greenberg, 36, spent the last 11 years with the Cubs, rising through the ranks to most recently serve as assistant GM. He largely operated behind the scenes but played an instrumental role in developing the talent evaluation and information processing systems that helped propel the Cubs to their 2016 World Series title.

He’ll serve a similar role with the Hawks, bringing methods from baseball that haven’t been widely implemented in hockey up to this point.

The Hawks say he’ll work alongside all aspects of the hockey operations department — including scouting, development, analytics and coaching at both the NHL and minor-league levels — to modernize and optimize their systems and decision-making processes.

“What I’ve learned about the Blackhawks is they’re serious about using this rebuilding period to not only set this franchise up to be the best in hockey, but the best in all of sports moving forward,” Greenberg said in a statement. “There couldn’t be a more exciting time to get in on the ground floor of this journey and pursue every possible solution to put this team back on the path to winning hockey.”

A Penn alum, Greenberg also holds a law degree from Columbia and worked for the Pirates, Diamondbacks and MLB league office before joining the Cubs. He does hold some hockey ties: he played hockey while growing in Pittsburgh and his father, Chuck, once nearly bought the Hurricanes.

But he’s unquestionably an unconventional, outside-the-box hire for the Hawks and in general for the NHL, which is notorious for recycling the same executives from one team to the next.

That was likely part of the appeal for Davidson, who took flak when he nabbed Maciver — a longtime Hawks executive up until early 2021 — after promising to bring in fresh voices and perspectives. He’d said earlier this month that future hiring decisions would reflect that need for freshness; Greenberg is likely just the tip of the iceberg, with many more front-office additions expected this offseason.

For the Cubs, meanwhile, Greenberg’s departure — he officially starts with the Hawks on May 9 — leaves a significant hole in their front-office leadership during the middle of the season.

Beneath baseball operations president Jed Hoyer and newly hired GM Carter Hawkins, Greenberg worked alongside Ehsan Bokhari and Craig Breslow as the three assistant GMs.

“Jeff…has done so much to make the Cubs a better organization over the last 10 seasons with his powerful combination of intelligence, work ethic, leadership and integrity,” Hoyer said in a statement. “He was critically involved in forward-looking decisions as we built the core of a world champion.

“As the Blackhawks look to build their next championship team, Jeff is an ideal hire. While I am sad to lose such a terrific employee and friend, I am thrilled that his future success will continue to benefit the city of Chicago.”

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The DeRozan household has a tic-tac-toe prodigy in it.

Who knew?

According to DeMar DeRozan, one of his daughters taught him an unbeatable strategy in tic-tac-toe, guaranteed to win games and frustrate opponents.

A skillset that the Bulls veteran had no problem adding to his offensive repertoire off the court this season. In one case, on a team charter and against teammate Zach LaVine.

“I remember we played tic-tac-toe on the plane, and I kept beating [LaVine],” DeRozan said. “He wouldn’t leave me alone until he beat me. And that’s just him on the court as well. Him being the ultimate competitor outside of being just a helluva individual outside of basketball. On the court? One of the more fierce competitors I’ve ever played with.”

And one that DeRozan felt deserved to be a max contract player this offseason.

Sounding somewhat like a close friend turned agent, DeRozan obviously felt like LaVine not only out-played the four-year, $78 million contract he signed back in 2018, but put himself in position to be paid like league royalty.

“Max player, max talent, max everything,” DeRozan replied, when asked about LaVine’s pending unrestricted free agency this summer. “He’s one of those players in this league that you don’t see too often. I tell him all the time how envious I am of the things he’s able to do. He deserves everything that’s coming to him for sure.”

What’s immediately coming LaVine’s way first is a surgical procedure on his left knee, which was expected to happen very quickly with the Bulls eliminated from the first round of the playoffs in Milwaukee on Wednesday night.

If that surgery goes as expected and there are no lingering concerns, then comes the LaVine pay day, with the Bulls saying all the right things about keeping the two-time All-Star in the red, white and black.

There is an argument to be made that LaVine has only taken the Bulls to the playoffs once in his career, and that came this season when he wasn’t even the best player on the team. Maxing out a guy who played on a No. 6 seed and was eliminated in the first round isn’t always good business, especially when that player is a guard that often focuses on just one side of the ball.

What the Bulls will be investing in, however, was what they saw from LaVine in the summer with Team USA, and then the first six weeks of the regular season, before his left knee started betraying him.

That LaVine averaged 25.5 points per game on 48.1% shooting and posted an eye-opening 105.1 defensive rating in October, and then followed that up with 25.3 points per game on 48.9% shooting with a 112.8 defensive rating in 16 games through November.

LaVine was asked by the Sun-Times in late November about being worthy of the max contract status, as well as his new-found attention to playing defense, and said, “How’s my defensive rating now? It’s better. What does that tell you?”

A lot.

The numbers obviously dipped drastically for LaVine on the defensive side when the knee started bothering him, but the Bulls sound willing to give him the pass on that.

They may be willing to give passes to a good part of the roster and actually run a very similar looking cast of characters back next season, plus some much needed tweaks. Nikola Vucevic indicated that on Thursday, discussing his exit meeting with the front office and coaching staff.

“They want to have continuity, that’s for sure,” Vucevic said. “As far as moves they can make, I don’t really know that. That’s their job.”

The one concern to come out of the player exit meetings?

Lonzo Ball admitted that his surgically repaired left knee was still giving him pain and he was scheduled to meet with another specialist next week. Ball also didn’t take another surgery off the table.

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An off-duty Chicago police officer exchanged gunfire with someone trying to steal a vehicle’s catalytic converter Thursday morning in the Norwood Park neighborhood, police said. No injuries were reported.

The man identified himself as an officer after noticing multiple people trying to steal a catalytic converter at 5:45 a.m. in the 6500 block of West Imlay Street, police said.

At that point, police said there was “an exchange of gunfire” between the officer and one of the suspects. The officer was not hit and the suspects fled, police said.

The officer was placed on routine administrative duties for 30 days while the Civilian Office of Police Accountability investigating the shooting.

Additional details were not released.

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