Dance explosion

A profusion of dance concerts, classes and receptions is sashaying into Laguna this weekend.

The Laguna Beach Dance Co., Laguna Beach High School’s resident troupe, stages its fall choreography show this weekend.

The new Gallimaufry Arts Festival also brings back Dance Day on Saturday.

And the Laguna Dance Festival (formerly CaDance) will offer programs throughout the first week of October, including free shows and free master classes.

The high school’s dance company, led by company director Tod A. Kubo and show director Erika Whalen, will stage student-choreographed works at its state-of-the-art dance facility on the campus at 625 Park Ave.

Choreographers include Ashley Trombly, Eleanor Knabe, Kelly Hancock, Julianna Cano, Madeline Morrison, Arianna Ross, Rachel Busic, Ericka Jones and Charlotte Young.

Shows will be tonight and tomorrow night at 7:30 p.m.; admission is $5 for students and $8 for adults. Tickets will be available at the door; there will be ample free parking. For more information, call (949) 497-7771 or visit www.lagunadance.com.

Dance Day, Sept. 30, will feature free master classes at Legion Hall, 384 Legion St., and a free concert on the cobblestones of Main Beach.

“We’re just thrilled at how it’s grown and by the number of calls we’ve gotten from people outside the area,” Gallimaufry founder Steve Josephson said.

The day will begin with a Latin jazz class from 10 to 11:30 a.m., with Desi Jevon. Cheryl Chaddick will teach modern dance from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., followed by Robert Schultz teaching hip hop from 1 to 2:30 p.m. Lula Washington will wrap up the classes with an Afro/modern style course from 2:30 to 4 p.m.

That afternoon at 4:30, the free beach concert will feature Backhaus Dance, Jabbawockies, Sean Greene, the premiere of Karame Adesco’s Alive Contemporary Dance Company, drumming from Taikoproject, and a “vibrant and dynamic” finale by the Lula Washington Dance Theatre.

Dance Day is part of the Gallimaufry Arts Festival, which will also highlight plays and musicals throughout the month. For more information, call (949) 499-5060 or visit www.gallimaufry.info.

The Laguna Dance Festival, spearheaded by former Joffrey prima ballerina Jodie Gates, will feature the Parsons Dance Company, stars of the San Francisco ballet, and Tony Award nominees Elizabeth Parkinson and Desmond Richardson.

A film screening, workshops, receptions and an Art Walk tie-in are also planned for the festival, which runs from Oct. 1 to 8.

On Oct. 1, Glenn Edgerton, the former director of the Nederlands Danse Theatre, will offer a class in movement and style at Legion Hall, 384 Legion St., from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is $25.

The PBS award-winning documentary “A Night at the Joffrey” will be screened at the Forum Theatre, 650 Laguna Canyon Road, at 6:30 on Oct. 4. Stars Leslie Carothers, Glenn Edgerton, Elizabeth Parkinson and Jodie Gates will speak at a Q-and-A session following the screening.

Three galleries will collaborate with the festival during First Thursdays Art Walk on Oct. 5, from 6 to 9 p.m.

Marion Meyer Gallery, 354 N. Coast Highway, will present “Caught in Paint,” a collage of images and film with dance photographer Lois Greenfield, painter Rita Blitt and dancer/choreographer/director David Parsons.

Events will also be held at Dawson Cole/Richard MacDonald Fine Art, 326 Glenneyre St., and Contemporary Chinese Fine Art Gallery, 1099 S. Coast Highway.

The Parsons Dance Company will perform on Oct. 5 at 7:30 p.m. at the Artists Theatre, 625 Park Ave. Tickets will be $45 general, $35 students and seniors.

The next night, a workshop called “Dancing Hands” with Jodie Gates and Rita Blitt will showcase music and movement as captured on the dance floor and on paper. The free event will be held from 4 to 5:30 p.m. at Neighborhood Congregational Church, 340 St. Ann’s Dr., and is geared to ages 6 and up.

The workshop will be followed that night with the festival’s gala performance and reception. The performance will be at 7 p.m. in Artists Theatre, followed by the reception at Laguna Art Museum, 307 Cliff Dr., at 8:30 p.m. Performance tickets are $50; the reception is $100 per person.

Performers at the gala will include principal dancers from the San Francisco Ballet, Tony Award winners, and the UCI Etude Ensemble.

The Parsons Dance Company Repertory will present an all-ages class in “humor, theatricality and rigorous athleticism” Oct. 7 at Legion Hall. The cost is $25. The class will run from noon to 2 p.m., concurrent with a class on dances from Twyla Tharp’s “Movin’ Out” by Elizabeth Parkinson. Admission for this class is also $25.

That night, “An Evening with the Stars of Dance” will be held at Artists Theatre, with a pre-show talk with performers at 6 p.m., followed by the performance at 7:30 p.m.; tickets are $45 for general admission, or $35 students and seniors.

Oct. 8 will feature an additional opportunity to see the Parsons Dance Company perform at Artists Theatre, with a pre-show talk at 3 p.m. and the performance at 4 p.m. Tickets are also $45 for general admission or $35 for students and seniors.

For more information on any of the events, call (949) 715-5578 or visit www.lagunadancefestival.org.