SAN FRANCISCO BALLET opens its "Spotlight Up" season with a company premiere, a highlight from last season, and a masterpiece from the past. That's good programming from any perspective. Ballet-goers – unlike opera or symphony patrons – crave new work. It may have something to do with dance's ephemeral quality, which prevents a backlog of memories from getting audiences stuck in an "I know what I like" mode. While Helgi Tomasson's repertory choices are skillfully balanced, his major accomplishment is that the company performs on a world-class level. SFB also makes this very expensive art form more accessible to students, seniors, and military personnel, who can buy day-of-performance tickets for $10 to $20, starting at noon. The season's opening program includes Lar Lubovitch's ... Smile with My Heart, a tribute to composer Richard Rogers. Premiered by American Ballet Theater in 2002, the work (a rehearsal of it) was prominently featured in Robert's Altman's The Company. Also on the bill is Tomasson's 7 for Eight – just maybe his finest work yet. Set to Bach, the piece's ensemble is small, but the dancing is big. And finally George Balanchine's Theme and Variations, one of Mr. B's most gloriously sumptuous works, which dates from 1947 and pays tribute to Russian ballet and the choreographer's beloved Tchaikovsky. Tues/1, Feb. 4, 10, and 12, 8 p.m. (also Feb. 12, 1 p.m.); Feb. 2, 7:30 p.m.; Feb. 6, 2 p.m., 301 Van Ness, S.F. $8-$165. (415) 865-2000, www.sfballet.org. (Rita Felciano)