The Los Angeles premiere of the feature length documentary Joffrey: Mavericks of American Dance will take place at Zipper Concert Hall in The Colburn School this Wednesday, February 1, 2012 at 8:00pm. This is the first film to chronicle how the legendary Joffrey Ballet revolutionized American ballet by daringly combining modern dance with traditional ballet and is directed by Bob Hercules. more ›

The Canadian company La La La Human Steps brings the U.S. premiere of its newest evening-length work, New Work, down to the Barclay Theater in the OC on Thursday night. Choreographed by much heralded company artistic director Edouard Lock, this new post-modern ballet is inspired by classic Greco-Roman love stories and is set to a score by renowned composers Gavin Bryars and Blake Hargreaves. more ›

March 7th: The Joffrey Ballet makes their Santa Barbara debut Monday night at 8 PM. The company has the distinction of being the only dance ensemble to appear on the cover of TIME, should be a nice performance if you're in the area. The performance is at the Granada Theatre and you can get tickets here. more ›

Pirouette or plié to MOCA Pacific Design Center tonight (March 4) for the public opening of "Rodarte: States of Matter." Featuring garments from three of Rodarte's twelve runway collections, the exhibition also presents six tutus from the film Black Swan. Rodarte designed the black and white ballet costumes worn in the film. more ›

The Barclay Theater in the OC is doing some big things right these days. Last weekend, they hosted the local premiere of a beautifully elegant evening of Sankai Juku, the award-winning Japanese company that is a highpoint of the dance form known as butoh. This week—only on Thursday—they present French contemporary dance with Ballet Preljocaj, a world renowned group under the direction of its celebrated choreographer, Angelin Preljocaj. more ›

Make no mistake, The Sleeping Beauty is a bona fide ballet: There are tutus, fairies, sparkles, flowers, lots of little girls and even an American Girl Doll you can buy at the T-shirt stand. But, the American Ballet Theater’s (ABT) execution of Sleeping Beauty is an amazing union of the strength, athleticism, grace and precision of the dancers? on stage with the fluff that makes an evening at the ballet both lavish and glorious. more ›

Tonight Harold and Maud--one of our favorite movies--screens for free at One Colorado Courtyard in Pasadena. It’s a May-December rom-com between a 19-year-old boy obsessed with death and a 79-year-old woman with a passion for life. more ›

It's unusual for a ballet company to explode onto the international scene as quickly as the "overnight" successes in other arts. To do so, there needs to be a philanthropic supporter who gets the ball rolling and stays there, like Lincoln Kirstein and the NYC Ballet or Baroness Rothschild and Martha Graham. So, for an American company to do this in our economically-challenged 21st century is an unexpected wonder! But "Hello!" to Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet and welcome to Los Angeles! more ›

ART* There’s a launch event tonight for the US release of the Haze x Stussy S/S 2010 collection tonight at the Known Gallery on Fairfax from 8-11 pm. The exhibition will include more than 30 framed pieces of the original art... more ›

The Bolshoi Ballet can be seen here performing an excerpt from the Nutcracker. You will have a hundred opportunities to see it this month. LAist has compiled a list of Christmas-themed shows this month for your convenience. If there is something we left out, please comment and we will add it as soon as possible. more ›

OK, we've all heard The Four Seasons, Vivaldi’s classic musical masterpiece that has served as the mainstay for every symphonic orchestra across the globe, scored or inspired many films and has even been turned into muzak to entertain you in your nearest elevator. Well, leave it to the French and Ballet Preljocaj to put a contemporary spin on this tried-and-true aural landscape and make it jump (a video clip is below, it's pretty amazing). more ›

For the fourth year running, "impresaria" Jamie Nichols is presenting what she calls "9 of the most cutting edge dance companies in Los Angeles" for one performance only, this Saturday, March 14th in Celebrate Dance at the historic Alex Theatre in Glendale. more ›

The Nutcracker (seen here with the Kirov Ballet) is a popular ballet by Tchaikovsky, that people love to perform (and see) during the Christmas season. There are at least three different groups performing it this month in the LA area, starting this week with the Lewis Family Playhouse in San Gabriel. The South Bay Ballet and the Kirov Ballet also perform it this month, giving you plenty of options to choose from. more ›

Elvis Costello and Isaac Mizrahi make their mark on classical music this week, in the west coast premiere of NIGHTSPOT. This week brings the immensely popular Miami City Ballet to town. NIGHTSPOT is the brainchild of world famous choreographer Twyla Tharp and Elvis Costello, with the costume design by Mizrahi. This is a must see for any music fans,. Also included in the program are Liturgy (choreographed by the popular Christopher Wheeldon), Tarantella, and Symphony in Three Movements. The last two are works by the legendary George Balanchine, a former Ballet Russes dancer and director of the New York City Ballet. His friend Stravinsky composed the symphony performed in this series of concerts, and you can check it out this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday at the music center. more ›

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The only thing we like better than ballet is witch trials. more ›