SHEN WEI DANCE ARTS: With choreography that combines Eastern and Western aesthetics with strong scenic elements, Shen Wei Dance Arts creates a unique fusion of dance, theater, Chinese opera, painting and sculpture. Soon you can see it all come together at the Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts.

The troupe is scheduled to perform in Jackson Hall at 8 p.m. March 14. A lecture by choreographer Della Davidson, a professor in the UC Davis Department of Theatre and Dance, is scheduled for 7 p.m. in the Mondavi Center's Studio Theatre, and a question-and-answer session with members of the company is planned after the show.

The company is under the artistic direction of MacArthur Foundation Genius Fellow Shen Wei. He studied calligraphy from an early age, and beginning at the age of 9, studied Chinese opera with the Hunan State Xian Opera Company from 1984 to 1989. From there he helped found the Guangdong Modern Dance Company, the first modern dance company in China, and his own company in 2000.

The troupe's Mondavi Center program includes:

-- Re- (Part One), co-commissioned by the Mondavi Center -- Shen said the work "is broadly based on the feeling of the land, the people, the religion, and the culture of Tibet that I gained from my recent journeys there."

-- Folding -- Shen said: "In 2000, the Guangdong Modern Dance Company invited me to make Folding, my first work with them since I left China in 1995. During this period, I was strongly attached to the simple action of folding: of paper, fabric, flesh -- anything. Folding combines traditional Tibetan Mahakala Buddhist chants with the ethereal melodies of John Tavener. An enormous (16 meters by 9 meters), hand-painted backdrop establishes a surreal atmosphere, painted with a rendition of an 18th-century Chinese watercolor by Ba Da San Ren."

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

CLASSICAL CURTIS ON TOUR: Classical music by two acclaimed instrumentalists and up-and-coming stars of tomorrow are planned March 14-16 at UC Davis, when Curtis on Tour performs in the Mondavi Center's Studio Theatre.

Veterans Roberto Díaz, president of the Curtis Institute of Music and former principal violist of the Philadelphia Orchestra, and cellist Margo Drakos are due to join a string quartet of Curtis Institute students in performances of works by Strauss, Schoenberg and Dvorák.

Concerts are planned at 8 p.m. March 15 and 2 p.m. March 16 as part of the Mondavi Center's Debut Series. A school matinee is set for 11 a.m. March 14.

The program: Richard Strauss' Sextet from Capriccio, op. 85; Arnold Schoenberg's Verklärte Nacht for String Sextet, op. 4; and Antonín Dvorák's String Quintet in E-flat Major, op. 97.

Tickets for March 15 and 16: (530) 754-2787 or (866) 754-2787, or www.mondaviarts.org. Educators and others interested in purchasing March 14 matinee tickets should contact the box office at (530) 754-4689.