Grab a friend to take advantage of the carpool lane and head south for some or all of the terpsichorean feast being served up over the next two weeks as the Orange County Performing Arts Center unveils its 2008-2009 dance series. After last year’s highly successful debut, Fall for Dance gets an encore, launching the season with the choreographic equivalent of a most generous tapas bar, offering ten top-notch companies to sample over four days and with all tickets only $10.

The opening night and Friday include the National Ballet of Canada, legendary choreographer Nacho Duato’s Compania Nacional de Danza, choreographer Willie Tsao’s BejingDance/LDTX, dance icon Trisha Brown with her eponymous dance troupe, and India’s Madhavi Mudgal. The weekend belongs to choreographer Shen Wei’s Dance Arts company, choreographer Larry Keigwin + Company, choreographer Ronald K. Brown’s Evidence, and two local dance troupes: choreographer Jennifer Backhaus’ Backhausdance and Pacifico Dance Company. In addition to the performances, Fall for Dance comes with an array of amuses bouches: free bonus events that include lecture/demonstrations, master classes to observe, post-performance talks and, in the plaza, video artist David Michalek’s Slow Dancing, mesmerizing slow-motion video images of some of the world’s great dancers projected onto the outside of the theater from dusk to midnight.

Only one day to catch a breath before Russia’s extraordinary Kirov Ballet arrives with the main course: a meaty full-length Don Quixote and — for dessert — the Kirov’s spun-sugar production of Giselle. What a feast of dance! For a complete schedule of Fall for Dance performances and bonus events, go to www.OCPAC.org. Orange County Performing Arts Center, 600 Town Center Dr., Costa Mesa; Fall for Dance, Thurs.-Sat., Oct. 2-4, 7:30 p.m.; Sun., Oct. 5, 3 p.m., $10; Slow Dancing, Wed.-Sun., Oct. 1-12, dusk to midnight, free; Kirov Ballet, Tues.-Sat., Oct. 7-11, 7:30 p.m.; Sat.-Sun., Oct. 11-12, 2 p.m.; $25-$115; (714) 556-2787 or www.ocpac.org.

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