Rock of Ages, commissioned by the UCB presenter Cal Performances, is a work for four dancers, set to the Adagio movement of Franz Schubert's Piano Trio in E-flat major ("Nocturne"), which will be played by Yosuke Kawasaki, Ariane Lallemand, and Jonathan Hoch. The work premieres on October 28 (with reprises on October 29 and 30) alongside performances Morris's I Don't Want to Love, Marble Halls, and V.

The company's opening night tomorrow features the West Coast premiere of Violet Cavern, which is set to a score commissioned from and performed by the jazz trio The Bad Plus, and has a set designed by artist Stephen Hendee. Violet Cavern, along with Mosaic and United, will be performed on October 22, 23, and 24.

Morris is regarded as one of the top contemporary choreographers in the world. He replaced Maurice Béjart as director of dance at Belgium's state opera house and remained there from 1988 to 1991. In 1990 he founded the White Oak Dance Project with Mikhail Baryshnikov. His own company, which regularly tours to 35 cities worldwide, was founded in 1980, and his body of work comprises over 100 dances.

This season at Cal Performances includes visits from the Bolshoi Ballet, Suzanne Farrell Ballet, the Trisha Brown Dance Company; such top-notch musicians as pianist Lang Lang and violinist Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg; and jazz vocalists Peter Cincotti and Kurt Elling.