Nikolaj Hubbe

The dancers who became the biggest stars in recent years were all defectors from Communist countries. But that era is history. So what does a major dancer have to do these days to open career doors and become a household name? Mere dancing has to turn the trick. In the case of Nikolaj Hubbe, 27, formerly of the Royal Danish Ballet and a principal dancer with New York City Ballet since 1992, dance audiences have always responded avidly.

Capped by a performance of arguably the last great Balanchine/Stravinsky ballet, an unusual program Sunday afternoon in Westwood showed how dance forms and rhythms have enriched 20th-Century music--specifically compositions for violin and piano. Unfortunately, the instruments sounded dry in Wadsworth Theater and the interpretations of scores by Stravinsky and Ravel consistently cut and dried.

Capped by a performance of arguably the last great Balanchine/Stravinsky ballet, an unusual program Sunday afternoon in Westwood showed how dance forms and rhythms have enriched 20th-Century music--specifically compositions for violin and piano. Unfortunately, the instruments sounded dry in Wadsworth Theater and the interpretations of scores by Stravinsky and Ravel consistently cut and dried.

The dancers who became the biggest stars in recent years were all defectors from Communist countries. But that era is history. So what does a major dancer have to do these days to open career doors and become a household name? Mere dancing has to turn the trick. In the case of Nikolaj Hubbe, 27, formerly of the Royal Danish Ballet and a principal dancer with New York City Ballet since 1992, dance audiences have always responded avidly.

IT WAS ONLY A GLASS OF VODKA THAT HE LIFTED BEFORE A hushed audience at Lincoln Center last year. But for Peter Martins, artistic director and top boss of the New York City Ballet, the shot glass he grasped on stage that evening might as well have been the Holy Grail. The curtain was about to rise on his ambitious restaging of the classic "Sleeping Beauty."

With an American flag waved atop the "Napoli" wedding cart, the Royal Danish Ballet said goodby to Southern California at the Performing Arts Center on Sunday. This was also the final complete "Napoli" for company principal Nikolaj Hubbe before he joins New York City Ballet, and even those familiar with his high-Romantic fervor in the Bournonville repertory had cause to find it a special occasion.

New York City Ballet has announced casting for its Oct. 14-24 engagement at the Orange County Performing Arts Center. * Oct. 14, 8 p.m.: "Sleeping Beauty" (Peter Martins, after Petipa/Tchaikovsky): Darci Kistler (Aurora); Damian Woetzel (Prince Desire); Merrill Ashley (Carabosse); Wendy Whelan (Lilac Fairy). * Oct. 15, 8 p.m.: "Sleeping Beauty": Kyra Nichols, Lindsay Fischer, Teresa Reyes, Maria Calegari. * Oct. 16, 2 p.m.

A fascinating study in creative misalliance turns up tonight on the PBS "Dance in America" series. Documenting a collaboration between composer Wynton Marsalis and choreographer Peter Martins, "Accent on the Offbeat" highlights the loose, improvisational creative process Marsalis encourages in his ensemble of jazz musicians versus the more rigid working methods that Martins enforces at New York City Ballet.

Another night, another "Beauty." Familiarity may not breed contempt when it comes to Peter Martins' hectic production of Petipa's fairy-tale classic, but it doesn't enhance enchantment either. As staged two years ago by the New York City Ballet, this "Sleeping Beauty" moves brightly and briskly over the stage of the Orange County Performing Arts Center. Yet no matter who plays what, it doesn't seem to move very poignantly.

George Balanchine always prized black swans. For the 1940 film comedy "I Was an Adventuress," he created a disarming "Swan Lake" sequence with Odette wearing a black tutu and the swan corps clad in traditional white. Forty-one years later, in his final production of the second act for New York City Ballet, he reversed that look--keeping Odette in white but surrounding her with 30 swans in gossamer black.

It may be disloyal to the point of treason to admit it, but some of the finest dancing in the New York City Ballet "Balanchine Celebration" today on PBS comes from outside New York City Ballet. No, not just the guest dancers from Russia, England and France, but also those representing companies in Seattle, San Francisco and Harlem. Even members of American Ballet Theatre, believe it or not. Directed by Matthew Diamond, this three-hour "Dance in America" telecast is scheduled today at 2 p.m.

Aiming to become what artistic directors Thordal Christensen and Colleen Neary call "a major company that belongs to L.A. -- that has a local flavor at an international level," the newly formed Los Angeles Ballet has announced its first season of performances and placed subscription tickets on sale. The company's debut will take place Dec.