8pm DanceThese are fast times for the...

8pm Dance

These are fast times for the dancers in Orange County’s own Ballet Pacifica. Besides participating in the company’s 12th annual Pacifica Choreographic Project--a three-week workshop from which new ballets emerge as works in progress--they’re rehearsing pieces by Choo-San Goh and Ann Marie DeAngelo for the upcoming “BalletFest 2002” at Cal State L.A. (on Aug. 2). The Choreographic Project this year showcases the creative talents of Shawn Hounsell of Les Grands Ballets Canadiens; Ryan Kelly of New York City Ballet; Davis Robertson from the Joffrey; and Sarah Slipper of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet. As usual, Ballet Pacifica artistic director Molly Lynch moderates a discussion between the choreographers and the audience after the performance.

Pacifica Choreographic Project, Ballet Pacifica, Irvine Barclay Theatre, 4242 Campus Drive, Irvine, 8 p.m. $22 to $55. (949) 854-4646.

7:30pm New Music

Composer Joe Potts and his ensemble amalgamate live instrumental and vocal performances with dance, tape, sampling and projections, using--among other devices--the Chopped Optigan. This is described as a portable home console organ and “the ultimate drone machine.” All this takes place indoors/outdoors at the Schindler House.

Joe Potts Ensemble, Schindler House, 835 N. Kings Road, West Hollywood, 7:30 p.m. $9 to $15. (323) 651-1510.

all day Jazz

From the 1920s through the 1950s, Central Avenue was the bustling spine of L.A.’s African American district, a street lined with jazz, dance and supper clubs that featured celebrated performers such as Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Lionel Hampton, Lena Horne and Sarah Vaughan. The seventh annual Central Avenue Jazz Festival will pay tribute to the avenue and that era with two days of free, nonstop jazz. Performers will include some avenue originals such as Gerald Wiggins, Teddy Edwards and the Gerald Wilson Orchestra plus such newcomers as Oscar Brashear, Justo Almario and the Banda Brothers.

Central Avenue Jazz Festival, 4225 S. Central Ave., L.A., Saturday, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Sunday, noon to 7:30 p.m. Free. (213) 473-0628.

Midnight Movies

In recent years, movie trailers have become stolid Cliffs Notes versions of the films they purport to promote. They recapitulate the plot, spoil the ending and can actually turn you off to a movie that you might’ve wanted to see. The New Beverly Festival of Trailers, however, celebrates the lost art of the great movie trailer with two hours of classics, cult favorites and exotica. Mining the vault of L.A.’s last true revival house, the event presents an eclectic mix of “previews” and “coming attractions” that will remind you of forgotten faves and enlighten you with unknown gems.

New Beverly Festival of Trailers, New Beverly Cinema, 7165 Beverly Blvd., L.A. Saturday, midnight. $5. (323) 938-4038.

3pm Pop Music

The good-time message of Sheryl Crow’s recent hit “Soak Up the Sun” makes her a natural to headline the Jeep World Outside Festival on Saturday. Others on the main-stage part of the entertainment lineup are Train, Ziggy Marley, O.A.R. and Silvercrush. Besides the music, the festival offers exhibits by such outdoors-oriented companies as REI and, of course, Jeep, as well as booths with information and exhibits on environmentalism.

Jeep World Outside Festival, Verizon Wireless Amphitheater, 8800 Irvine Center Drive, Irvine. 3 p.m. $25 to $55. (949) 855-9063.

8pm Theater

“California Scenarios” is a sequence of five short plays about the Latino experience in California--all crafted for and staged in Isamu Noguchi’s Costa Mesa sculpture garden representing the California landscape. A new script by Richard Coca will augment pieces by Luis Alfaro, Joann Farias, Anne Garcia-Romero and Jose Cruz Gonzalez that had a sold-out run last year. The site-specific pieces were commissioned and produced by South Coast Repertory.

“California Scenarios,” Noguchi Garden, behind the Comerica Bank, 611 Anton Blvd., Costa Mesa. Previews Thursday and Friday, 8 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, 8 p.m. Also Tuesday to Aug. 4, 8 p.m. $10. (714) 708-5555.

10pm Pop Music

The title of the latest album by Louisiana-born DJ Q-Burns Abstract Message is “Invisible Airline,” but its seductive electronica has been turning up on the in-flight playlists of real airlines, as well as on the night-flight playlists of dance clubs like the Echo, where he performs Saturday. Q-Burns, a.k.a. Michael Donaldson, got hooked as a kid on tape recorders and ambient sounds instead of electric guitars when he started listening to his mom’s copy of the Beach Boys’ masterpiece “Pet Sounds.”

Q-Burns Abstract Message, the Echo, 1822 Sunset Blvd., L.A. 10 p.m. $9. (213) 413-8200.

8pm Theater

Three folk singers, two of whom were blacklisted in the McCarthy Era, rehearse for a song- and tension-filled reunion concert in William Mesnik’s critically acclaimed drama about love and loyalty, “Three Songs.”

“Three Songs,” Fremont Centre Theatre, 1000 Fremont Ave., South Pasadena, Fridays to Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 3 p.m. Ends Sept. 1. $18. (626) 441-5977.