The UC Davis Centennial celebration would not be complete without acknowledging the university as a venue for performing artists from around the world.

This season alone the Mondavi Center has booked musicians and dancers from Israel, France, Africa, Ireland and Russia.

And, as a centennial event, the center is hosting Sacramento's Instituto Mazatlán Bellas Artes for a show titled "Ballet Folklorico," described as a set of dances reflecting Mexican folk traditions from the Aztec age to the present. The show is scheduled for 3 p.m. Oct. 12 in Jackson Hall, amid the Centennial Fall Festival.

In "Ballet Folklorico," the 29-member company showcases the colorful, celebratory music and dance traditions of four Mexican states: Guerrero, Jalisco, Veracruz and Michoacan.

The dance company began in 1994 as Grupo Folklorico Mazatlan. Known as Instituto Mazatlán Bellas Artes since 2000, the company has toured throughout California and the southwest as well as in China and Mexico and has won national and international competitions including the Folklorico Festival 2006 at Texas Woman's University.

The company's Mondavi Center program includes Aztlan a Tenochtitlan, a depiction of Aztec mythology; Fiesta Tabasqueña, which incorporates Spanish, African and indigenous Mexican influences; Sones Antiguos de Michoacan, which features "sonajas," or rattle dances; and Jalisco, featuring costumes, music, and dance from the region known as the birthplace of mariachi music.

Tickets: (530) 754-2787 or (866) 754-2787 or www.mondaviarts.org