When the Lyon Opera Ballet invited the New York-based choreographer Ralph Lemon to create a new work, Mr. Lemon made a bold request: two months with the company to rehearse and experiment.

To his surprise, Lyon's artistic director, Yorgos Loukos, said yes, giving Mr. Lemon an amount of time with the dancers that is rare and, he said, "luxurious," for a choreographer. "I went and made a work that I could not have made" in the U.S., he said.

...