Nobody puts bebé in a corner

It's a rough time of year for So You Think You Can Dance fans. The show is over until next summer, and the tour is only coming as close as San Francisco and San Jose, which means Sacramento fans will be in a serious drought of gnarly Nappytabs or depression-inducing (in a good way!) Mia Michaels routines for a while.

Luckily, New York-based Ballet Hispanico is set to come through Davis on Friday, October 11, as part of its 2013 North American tour. The company’s style is pretty much exactly what it sounds like: classical ballet and contemporary dance, melded with traditional and modern Latino forms. As you might imagine, this makes for a diverse repertoire—tango-laced pas de deux; pirouettes in a paso doble; slow, controlled développés followed by some serious hip work.

Formed in 1970 by Tina Ramirez, the troupe, now directed by Eduardo Vilaro, aims to preserve culture and promote education with pieces like “A Vueltas con los Ochenta,” which evokes the post-Franco, 1980s Madrid when culture in Spain was experiencing new freedom in the wake of its former dictator; and “Mad’Moiselle,” a contemporary piece that is both playful and somber, and serves as a dialogue-in-motion about gender identity within Latino culture.

The show is highly accessible and aimed at fostering a vital art form that is increasingly underfunded nowadays. The way I’d recommend it to friends that aren’t into dance: It’s kind of like the Sharks’ routines from West Side Story plus Black Swan, with a little bit of Dirty Dancing thrown in the mix. Who wouldn’t want to see that? 8 p.m., $25-$49. Mondavi Center, 9399 Old Davis Road in Davis; (530) 754-5000; www.mondaviarts.org.