Waiting in the wings for the fall dance season to begin are a seductive gypsy girl, a dozen Rockettes and a company of formidable ballet dancers who give flesh to the vision of choreographer Alonzo King. This last group, Alonzo King's LINES Ballet, opens the Pittsburgh Dance Council's 2005-06 season Oct. 1 at the Byham Theater. The concert, co-sponsored by the African American Cultural Center, will be the San Francisco company's Pittsburgh debut. The gypsy girl, better known as "Carmen," makes her entrance Oct. 6 at the Benedum Center, courtesy of Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre. The new version, choreographed by Amedeo Amodio to the famous score by Georges Bizet, runs through Oct. 9. Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre also brings "The Nutcracker," set in 19th-century Pittsburgh, to the Benedum from Dec. 9 to 23. Those who buy tickets to "The Nutcracker" will receive preferential seating for the Radio City Christmas Spectacular, which makes its Pennsylvania debut Nov. 10 at the Benedum. The family-oriented holiday show, starring the world famous Rockettes from New York City, is part of the PNC Broadway in Pittsburgh Series, a division of the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust. Dance Alloy Theater celebrates its 30th-anniversary season with "Circus of time -- an evening of memory & illusion" Dec. 2 through 5 at the Kelly-Strayhorn Theater in East Liberty. The Alloy, now a quintet, will perform "Time & Again" by New Yorker Claire Porter and a new work by Dance Alloy Theater artistic director Beth Corning. Labco Dance, the ever-vital modern dance troupe led by former Alloy dancer Gwen Ritchie, stages "Unravelling" at the Kelly-Strayhorn Theater on Nov. 11 to 13. They'll premiere a new work by Ritchie as well as those by Donna Uchizono and Mark Taylor. The Pillow Project Dance Company, founded by tap-dancer Pearlann Porter, performs "Concept Album" on Sept. 23 and 24 at the Hunt Armory -- the same place, they note, where Led Zeppelin played in 1969. Oct. 8, Srishti Dances of India collaborates with UMOJA African Arts Company for "Nritya! Guinena Fare! -- A Celebration of Dance from Two Continents." The Playhouse Dance Company performs its fall mid-terms, "Student Choreography Project," from Oct. 7 to 9 with a student showcase featuring ballet, jazz, modern and tap. Also of note: The Pittsburgh Dance Council also presents Limon Dance Company on Nov. 5 at the Byham Theater. The legendary, long-lived Limon dance company predates Alvin Ailey and Merce Cunningham as one of the pioneers of American Dance. They'll perform a new work by Lar Lubovitch, himself a former student of Limon and thus emotionally and spiritually attuned to the company.

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