Friday-Saturday: The Houston Ballet returns to the Twin Cities with two evenings of world-class dance presented by the Northrop Dance series at the Orpheum Theatre. Each performance will include Jorma Elo's "ONE/end/ONE" (2011), the first recipient of the Rudolf Nureyev Prize for New Dance, and the Christopher Wheeldon pas de deux "Rush" (2003). Friday's show will also feature artistic director Stanton Welch's fast-paced 1999 work "Indigo" while Saturday's program includes the 1970 one-act ballet from Jerome Robbins, "In the Night." Learn more about the Houston Ballet at a special preview starting at 6:45 p.m. at Solera, next to the theater. (8 p.m. Fri.-Sat. $30-$60, Orpheum Theatre, 910 Hennepin Av. S., Mpls., 1-800-745-3000 or 612-624-2345, ticketmaster.com or www.northrop.umn.edu.

CAROLINE PALMER