Always-welcome New York visitor in Downtown LA; contemporary ballet in Irvine, Santa Barbara, and Downtown LA; dance and puppets in Brentwood, Hancock Park, and Pasadena; contemporary survival considered in Santa Monica; bendy dance in Orange; more SoCal dance this week, and a peek at next week.

Live This Week (thru March 26)

Revelatory

Of course, the gospel-infused Revelations will joyously close every show as Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater brings two programs with several new works for this visit in the third year of its Music Center residency. Program A (Wed., Fri., Sat. mat., and Sun. eve.) includes a company premiere in Blink of an Eye, an LA premiere in Difference Between, and A Case of You (plus Revelations). Program B (Thurs., Sat. eve., and Sun. mat.), has two LA premieres: The Holy Blues and Embrace (plus Revelations). More details at the website. At the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Music Center, 135 N. Grand Ave., Downtown LA; Wed.-Fri., March 25-27, 7:30 pm, Sat.- Sun, March 28-29, 2 & 7:30 pm, $44-$184. Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.

Lots to say

The latest from choreographer Jacob Jonas, Keeping Score, is a triptych, divided into two shows. Thursday evening opens with the 75 minute part 3 with parts 1 and 2 (about 90 minutes plus intermission) presented Friday evening. Sunday presents the first two sections at 2 pm and part three at 6 pm. The press material recommends seeing all three parts, although each stands alone. The dozen dancers of Jacob Jonas/The Company are excellent and known for their stamina, yet given the often hyper-physical nature of Jonas’ choreography, perhaps even they need time to recuperate before essaying the third section. The work is described as growing out of Jonas’ experience after his stage 4 cancer diagnosis and also seeks to address larger issues of endurance and growth. At the Broad Stage, 1310 11th St., Santa Monica; Thurs.-Fri., March 19-20, 7:30 pm, Sun., March 22, 2 & 6 pm, $35-$65. Jacob Jonas.

Working together

Now in its third year, the LA-based contemporary company Indigo Dance Company brings director Dani Burd’s Don’t You Remember?. Burd describes the work as “embodied” by this season’s collaborators Abbey Raymond, David Bernal Fuentes, Elsie Nelson, Gia Bella, Mara Hancock, Jen Vieweg, and Sammy Macias, plus understudy Bella Ricciardi. At Highways Performance Space, 1651 18th St., Santa Monica; Fri.-Sat., March 20-21, 8 pm,  $27.68. Indigo Dance Company.

Ballet double bill

Continuing its commitment to ballets by George Balanchine, American Contemporary Ballet offers final performances of a double bill with live music under the banner Balanchine: Twin Masterpieces. ACB touts that these have never been performed together before, a fact that may reflect the ballets’ structural similarities. Set to Bach’s Concerto for Two Violins, Balanchine’s Concerto Barocco captures Bach’s first and second violins in two female dancers with the corps articulating the orchestra. Created in 1941, a time Balanchine’s fledgling ballet company was shy on male dancers, Barocco has a cast of 11 women and one man called upon for strong partnering skills in the middle movement. With music by Leo Delibes, Balanchine created La Source in 1961 as a pas de deux for Violette Verdy and John Prinz, and later expanded the work, surrounding the duo with an all-female corps de ballet. The company includes several seasoned dancers including Maté Szentes and Madeline Houk, who know their Balanchine. At the ACB Studios, Bank of America Plaza, 333 S. Hope St., Downtown LA; Thurs.-Sat., 8 pm, thru Fri., March 27, $65-$140. American Contemporary Ballet.

How do they do that?

The accomplished, uber-bendy dancer/gymnasts that populate this generation of Pilobolus bring the troupe’s signature works blending modern dance, acrobatics, and humor for the Other Worlds Collection. At the Irvine Barclay Theatre, UC Irvine, 4242 Campus Dr., Irvine; Wed., March 25, 8 pm, $34-$140. Pilobolus.

Playing around

Playgrounds, animals, and video games get choreographic treatment with live music in State Street Ballet’s program dubbed Recess. Jerome Robbins ebullient Interplay offers playful energy; Alexei Kremnev contributes a zoo adventure in Carnival of the Animals set to the Saint Saens score; and Autumn Eckman injects dancers into video games. Opera Santa Barbara Orchestra provides live music. At Lobero Theatre, 33 E. Canon Perdido St., Santa Barbara; Sat., March 21, 2 & 7:30 pm, Sun., March 22, 2 pm, $39-$127. State Street Ballet.

Runaway bride

The errant knight and his sidekick Pancho Sanza are really side characters in the ballet Don Quixote. The real focus is on an impoverished barber named Basilio and Kitri, the feisty object of his affection whose father wants to marry her off to a silly figure who is rich. Guest artists Jeraldine Mendoza and Dylan Gutierrez of Chicago’s Joffrey Ballet dance the leads with Festival Ballet‘s professional and student dancers in this production choreographed by director Salwa Rizkalla after Marius Petipa. At the Irvine Barclay Theatre, UC Irvine, 4242 Campus Dr., Irvine; Sat., March 21, 7 pm, Sun., March 22, 2 pm, $54-$74. Festival Ballet – Don Quixote.

Hear that?

Under the banner Echoes of Expression, senior dance students of CSU Dominguez Hills offer new choreography with guests, Mosaic Dance Company and the Moorpark College Dance Department. At the University Theatre, Cal State University Dominguez Hills, 1000 E. Victoria St., Carson; Wed.-Sat., March 25-28, 8 pm, $15-20. Echoes of Expression.

Sips and solos

While known for its programming that showcases solo theatrical performances, LA Women’s Theatre Festival‘s title belies the strong involvement of dancers and choreographers in its membership and celebrations. The opening champagne reception for this year’s fest honors two LA women in dance—Vannia Ibarguen and the late Carmen de Lavalade, and the program includes a performance by Sona Lewis. At Barnsdall Park, 4800 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood; Thurs., March 26, 6:30 pm, $60 (2 for $100). LA Women’s Theatre Festival.

Canadian infused

The world of ‘cirque’ emerged from Canada and different cirque companies now sweep across the wide world. One Montreal-based company, Cirque Kalabanté, showcases African influences, including African dance, in its approach to the cirque arts. Now on tour, the company stops off at two local venues with Afrique en Cirque. At the Carpenter Center, Cal State University Long Beach, 6200 E. Atherton St., Long Beach; Sat., March 21, 8 pm, $43.75-$63.75. Cirque Kalabante-Carpenter Also at the Soraya, Cal State University Northridge, 18111 Nordhoff St., Northridge; Sun., March 22, 3 pm, $46-$94. Cirque Kalabanté.

​​Let’s get together

The Volta Collective, in partnership with Freak Nature Puppets, explores family dynamics and communal rituals in the immersive performance Dis-Order. At the Skirball Cultural Center, 2701 N. Sepulveda Blvd., Brentwood; Thurs.-Fri., March 19-20, 8 pm, $40, $30 seniors, students, children 2-17. Volta Collective & Dis-Order.

Women on the move

Among the line up of performances announced for the Ebell+LA Festival — Powered by Women, dance is offered by Leigh Purtill Dance Theatre and a different brand of movement from the ever-popular Bob Baker Marionette Theater. At The Ebell, 741 S. Lucerne, Hancock Park; Sun., March 22, 11 am–4 pm, free w/reservation. Ebell+LA Festival.

How they move

With a cast of 483 handmade puppets, Hamid Rashmanian’s Song of the North enacts an epic, family-friendly Persian tale of love and heroism. At Pasadena Playhouse, 39 S. El Molino Ave., Pasadena; Sat., 2 & 7 pm, Sun., 2 pm, thru March 29. $29-$42. Hamid Rashmanian’s Song of the North.

A Peek at Next Week (March 27 to April 2)

Backhausdance at Martha B. Knoebel Dance Theater, Cal State University Long Beach, 6200 E. Atherton St., Long Beach; Sat., March 28, 2 & 7 pm, $48.75-$69.75, $27.75 student. Backhausdance. Also at LA Dance Project, 2245 E. Washington Blvd., Downtown Arts District; Sat., April 18, 8 pm, Backhausdance.

Diavolo/Architecture in Motion — Escape at L’Espace Diavolo, 616 Moulton Ave., Lincoln Heights; opens Sat., March 28, then Fri.-Sat., 8 pm, Sun., 6 pm, thru Sun., June 14, $39. Diavolo-Veterans Project.

Jimmy Nedd — from rock to rock… aka how magnolia was taken for granite at UCLA Freud Playhouse, UCLA, MacGowan Hall, 245 Charles E Young Dr., Westwood; Sat., March 28, 8 pm, $38.08. Jimmy Nedd.