Critic's top picks: Dance

"Director's Choice." Pacific Northwest Ballet's new artistic director, Peter Boal, introduces himself to Seattle audiences with an adventurous evening featuring two new-to-Seattle ballets by George Balanchine, "Duo Concertant" and "Symphony in Three Movements," as well as "In the Night," by Jerome Robbins (with whom Boal worked extensively at New York City Ballet), a dreamy nocturne for six. Also on the program: William Forsythe's clanging, athletic "Artifact II." Sept. 22-Oct. 2, Pacific Northwest Ballet, McCaw Hall, 206-441-2424 or www.pnb.org.

"Daylight." British iconoclast Sarah Michelson brings her unique brand of movement and performance to Seattle. Michelson delights and baffles critics — sometimes simultaneously — with her weirdly powerful blend of inexplicable gestures, fierce dance and vintage pop culture — "Daylight" begins with performers bursting onstage to the tune of Gerry Rafferty's kitschy-dreamy 1978 pop song "Baker Street." Oct. 5-9, 8 p.m., On the Boards, 206-217-9888 or www.ontheboards.org.

"Blueprint of a Lady: The Once and Future Life of Billie Holiday." The New York Times calls Ron K. Brown's choreography "explosive, yet amazingly light." Brown's new work — part of a multimedia performance piece (choreography by Brown, vocals by Nnenna Freelon, film by Robert Penn) — celebrates the life of legendary singer Billie Holiday. "Blueprint" is part of the UW World Series. Oct. 13-15, 8 p.m., Meany Theatre, 206-543-4880 or www.uwworldseries.org.

Alonzo King's LINES Ballet. San Francisco's widely admired troupe, founded in 1982, has quietly built a sterling reputation for disciplined and highly collaborative original ballet. Alonzo King's choreography has been incorporated into the repertories of the Joffrey Ballet, Frankfurt Ballet, Dance Theater of Harlem and many other companies. A Seattle Times reviewer admired the "exquisite grace" of the company when it visited Seattle this spring; this time they will be in Olympia. Oct. 14, 7:30 p.m., Washington Center for the Performing Arts, Olympia, 360-753-8586 or www.washingtoncenter.org.

Hubbard Street Dance Chicago. The acclaimed, versatile Chicago company returns to Seattle after a four-year absence. In the past, Hubbard Street's eclectic repertory has included works by contemporary choreographers Twyla Tharp, William Forsythe, Nacho Duato, Lar Lubovitch and others; they will perform a mixed program. Nov. 11, 8 p.m., Paramount Theatre, 206-292-ARTS or www.theparamount.com.

Cheap thrills

Pacific Northwest Ballet's $5 Fridays are intimate, hourlong performances geared to young adults and featuring excerpts from upcoming, work-in-progress ballets. New Pacific Northwest Ballet artistic director Peter Boal hosts the bargain ballet evenings, which are interspersed throughout the PNB calendar. The first is Oct. 28, and includes snippets from "Past, Present & Future," including a world premiere by rising European choreographer Marco Goecke and Balanchine's "Concerto Barocco." $5, Pacific Northwest Ballet, The Phelps Center, 301 Mercer St., Seattle; 206-441-2424 or www.pnb.org/season/fridays.html.