DANCE : Colorful Acts and Music Star in ‘Three Ring Circus’

When devising a children’s ballet, choreographer Kathy Kahn sets her sights on three things: something colorful, something humorous and something that sounds good.

“It’s important to find music that’s really accessible to the kids,” said Kahn, a guest choreographer with Ballet Pacifica. “If it’s lively and upbeat, it helps carry the ballet.”

“Three Ring Circus,” Kahn’s latest work, fits the bill. Ballet Pacifica will premiere the 20-minute suite for its annual children’s concerts this weekend at the Festival Forum Theater in Laguna Beach.

As its name suggests, the ballet’s cornucopia of circus acts includes prancing ponies and trained dogs (portrayed by dancers), a tattooed man, a bearded lady, a tightrope walker, a contortionist, peanut and cotton-candy vendors and clowns, all dressed, of course, in whimsical, multicolor costumes.

The score combines calliope tunes with “screamers,” which Kahn explained are pieces written specifically for circuses, “marches that are just blasting out there.”

Ballet Pacifica had a circus ballet in its repertory more than a decade ago, but it was dropped after its choreographer, Michael Panaieff, died, said Kahn, a former dancer and ballet mistress with the Laguna Beach troupe.

“I didn’t want to appear as though I was copying Panaieff or re-creating what was his,” she said. But after his death, “it seemed like his ballet was really all gone.”

Kahn, who used to choreograph for adults, has specialized in children’s ballets in recent years.

“I just seem to have a knack for choreographing humorous work, and children seem to like my ballets,” she said. “I fill a little void that a lot of people can’t really fill.”

An earlier Kahn work--”Winnie the Pooh,” featuring Pooh, Christopher Robin, Piglet, Kanga, Roo, Eeyore, Rabbit and Owl--will round out the weekend program. Reservations are strongly recommended as the performances typically sell out.

* What: Ballet Pacifica presents “Three Ring Circus” and “Winnie the Pooh.”

* When: Saturday, Feb. 4, and Sunday, Feb. 5, at 11:30 a.m., 1:30 and 3:30 p.m. both days.

* Where: Festival Forum Theater, 650 Laguna Canyon Road, Laguna Beach.

* Whereabouts: From the San Diego (405) Freeway, go south on Laguna Canyon Road. The theater will be on the right as you approach town.

* Wherewithal: $10 for adults and $7 for children 12 and under and senior citizens.

* Where to call: (714) 642-9275.