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This week’s dance events include the ongoing invasion of a Chinatown theater, Day of the Dead dance in an East L.A. graveyard, an inflatable pop up park in Santa Monica, dance mixed with puppets downtown, dance in process in Westwood, dancing all day in Crenshaw, new dance in Long Beach, a beloved novel goes ballet in Irvine, dancing about cancer in Pasadena, Russian ballet in Glendale and Hancock Park, a circus troupe in Malibu, swing dance in Hollywood, and UCLA hosts multiple incarnations of a post modern dance legend’s signature work.
5. Popkin’s pop-up park
Choreographer Lionel Popkin employs strategically lit balloon sculptures resembling living room furniture to create Inflatable Park for this installment of Tongva After Dark. Tongva Park, 1615 Ocean Ave., Santa Monica; Tues., Oct. 18, 7:30-9 p.m., free. [Please note this date is correct; it has been changed from a prior announced date.]http://tongvapark.smgov.net/events. 
4. Ties that bind
Puppetry meets contemporary dance to explore universal human connections as artistic director Madeline Leavitt and her Voices Carry, Inc. premiere Strings Attached. The Shakespeare Center of Los Angeles, 1238 W. 1st St., downtown; Thurs.-Sat., Oct. 13-15, 8:30 p.m., Sun., Oct. 16, 7:30, $30, $20 students & seniors. 213-481-2273, http://stringsattached.brownpapertickets.com.
3. Beating Tarantino to Chinatown
Film director Quintin Tarantino is rumored to be buying Chinatown’s long neglected King Hing Theater, but first the dancers, musicians, singers and other performers of the Heidi Duckler Dance Theatre open the theatre to the first audience to enter in 20 years. Known for employing overlooked L.A. cultural institutions in site specific considerations, HDDT promises to turn the theatre into a walkable art installation while taking on the subject of personality cults in When I Am King. What does it mean to be a public figure in a world where individuals are now brands. Duckler teams with long-time collaborators designer Dan Evans and composer Amy Knoles. King Hing Theater, 647 N. Spring St., Chinatown; Sat., Oct. 8, 15, 22 & 29, 8 p.m., $50, $25 students & seniors. http://heididuckler.org. 
2. Let the holidays begin!
Halloween and All Saints Day are still a ways off, but Gema Sandoval and her Danza Floricanto/USA get a headstart on the holidays with its 15th annual Fiesta del Dia de los Muertos~Day of the Dead Celebration. With the Floricanto Center transformed into a cemetary, the immersive performance offers a series of vignettes tackling contemporary social issues as well as Chicano traditions. In honor of its 15th anniversary, shows will include a Quinceañeara for the pivotal character La Catrina including a waltz and a cake the audience can share. Saturday’s show also includes dinner. Floricanto Center for the Performing Arts, 4232 Whiteside St., E.L.A.; Sat., Oct. 15, 8 p.m., Sun., Oct. 16, 5 p.m., Sat.: $40 in advance only, Sun.: $15 in advance, $20 at door 323-261-0385, http://danzafloricantousa.com/store.php.
1. Flying Hay
Deborah Hay evolved from a highly trained modern dancer with Merce Cunningham into a pivotal player among the innovative post modern choreographers centered at New York’s Judson Church in the 1960’s. Balking at existing strictures of modern dance, Hay devoted decades to creating works, often large scale works, for untrained dancers as well as her own company and solo works for herself. In recent years she has circled back, creating for professional companies and this two day tribute A Platform in Three Parts offers a taste of her path. Both afternoons are devoted to Hay’s solo No Time to Fly which became a trio, here reimagined and adapted as a duet performed by Jeanine Durning and Ros Warby. Both evenings are devoted to Cullberg Ballet performing Figure at Sea, Hay’s collaboration with composer Laurie Anderson that expanded No Time to Fly for a larger group of professional dancers. UCLA Freud Playhouse, 245 Charles E Young Dr. North, Westwood; Sat.-Sun., Oct. 15-16, 4:30 & 8 p.m., $29-$49. 310-825-2101, http://cap.ucla.edu.
Other dance of note:
Clad in a white leotard and eschewing any special effects and props, Lisa Wahlander is featured in In Real Life: Studio, a 100 day series exploring artists’ working processes. In this edition, dancer/choreographer Wahlander offers a first glimpse at LADYBEAST AND THE IMPERMANENT SKY inspired by a Carl Sagan quote about the universe experiencing itself. The work is being developed with artist, animator and musician Bryan Konietzko with the eventual full length version intended to occur in the last 60 minutes of daylight. Hammer Museum Courtyard, 10899 Wilshire Blvd., Westwood; Thurs.-Fri., Oct. 13-14 & Oct. 20-21, Tues., Nov. 1 & Dec. 13, Thurs.-Fri., Dec. 15-16, check with the museum on times, free. http://hammer.ucla.edu.
Every year Lula Washington Dance Theatre turns the studio’s parking lot into the Dance All Day Festival in conjunction with the nearby Taste of Soul street festival. Geared to kids but available to all, Washington assembles performances and conducts workshops throughout the day. This year’s line up includes Debbie Allen Dance Academy, Floricanto Dance Company, host Lula Washington Dance Theatre and more troupes, including student groups from local high schools. Lula Washington Dance Studios, 3773 Crenshaw Blvd, Crenshaw; Sat., Oct. 15, 9:30 a..m. on; free. 323-292-5852, school.lwdt@gmail.com, http://lulawashington.org.
Guest choreographers Keith Johnson and Robert Moses join BFA students Bradford Chin, Madison Clark, Jasmine Mosher and Maili Schlosser in a program of new dances under the umbrella title Variance. Martha B. Knoebel Dance Theater, 1250 Bellflower Blvd., Long Beach; Thurs.-Fri., Oct. 13-14, Sat. Oct. 15, 2 & 8 p.m., $20, $16 students & seniors. https://web.ovationtix.com/trs/pr/962467.
L.A.-based contemporary ballet choreographer Josie Walsh is known for putting ballet dancers in one pointe shoe and one stiletto heel. Walsh takes a more narrative approach with the tale of a young girl, her sickly cousin and their how their efforts revive more than a neglected garden in this version of Frances Hodgson Burnett’s beloved novel The Secret Garden. The new ballet commissioned by Festival Ballet for its accomplished students features music from Walsh’s husband Paul Rivera Jr. and David Bazemore designed the evolving garden. Irvine Barclay Theatre, 4242 Campus Dr., Irvine; Sat., Oct. 15, 7 p.m., Sun., Oct. 16, 2 p.m., $39-$45. 949-854-4646,http://festivalballet.org. http://thebarclay.org.
Drawing on the storytelling model of The Moth Radio Hour, Lineage Dance’s Healing Blue recounts true stories of women with breast cancer through modern dance, text and music. The show is the debut of the dance troupe’s partnership with Street Symphony a non profit begun by L.A. Phil musicians to give voice to those without. Lineage Dance Center, 89 S. Fair Oaks Blvd., Pasadena; Sun., Oct. 16, 7 p.m., $20, $15 students & seniors. 626-844-7008, http://lineage.org.
A mix of seasoned pros and recent grads from Russian choreographic schools, Russian Grand Ballet stops off on a U.S. tour with a full length Sleeping Beauty in Glendale and a full-length Swan Lake in Hancock Park. Alex Theater, 216 N. Brand Blvd., Glendale; Fri., Oct. 14, 8 p.m.; $31-$99, http://alextheatre.org. Also at Wilshire Ebell Theatre, 4401 W. 8th St., Hancock Park; Sun., Oct. 16, 7 p.m., $30-$75. http://ebellla.org, http://ticketmaster.com.
The family friendly circus troupe Flip FabriQue arrives from Quebec. Pepperdine University, Smothers Theatre, 24255 Pacific Coast Hwy., Malibu; Tues., Oct. 18, 7:30 p.m. $22-45, $22 17& under. 310-506-4522, http://arts.pepperdine.edu.
This week and the final JAM Session features swing dance with Gareth Price & his Nifty Heelers. Ford Theatres, 2580 Cahuenga Blvd. East, Hollywood; Mon., Oct. 17, 7 p.m., free but reservations recommended. http://fordtheatres.org.
Ann Haskins has written about dance for L.A. Weekly since shortly after it began publishing. She also has written about local and national dance for Pointe Magazine, Dance Spirit Magazine, Dance Teacher Magazine, Los Angeles Magazine, L.A. View, Coast Magazine, the Daily News, and the Herald Examiner. Among her broadcast projects, Ann hosted Inside Theater on KCRW-FM and contributed dance and theater features to both KLON-FM and KUSC-FM. She has received two Horton Awards from the Los Angeles Dance Resource Center for her coverage of dance in Los Angeles.