8 pm: Dance

Eighty-year-old ballet legend Alicia Alonso will be back in Havana when her National Ballet of Cuba dances at the Orange County Performing Arts Center this weekend. But the stamp of her artistry will be evident not only in the vibrant style and international technical standard of the company but also in its tour repertory. Tonight and Friday, the Cubans present “The Magic of Alonso,” excerpts from her stagings of “Giselle,” “Sleeping Beauty,” “The Nutcracker,” “Don Quixote,” “Swan Lake,” “Coppelia” and her own “A Night in the Tropics” (music by Gottschalk). On Saturday and Sunday, they dance her production of the full-length “Coppelia”’ (music by Delibes). * National Ballet of Cuba, Orange County Performing Arts Center, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. Today and Friday, 8 p.m.: “The Magic of Alonso.” Saturday, 2 and 8 p.m., and Sunday, 2 p.m.: Coppelia.” $20 to $70. (714) 556-2787, (714) 740-2000.

all day: Leisure

The Museum of Television & Radio’s annual Radio Festival kicks off today with live broadcasts from the museum’s Ralph Guild Radio Station. Open to the public, these live broadcasts of local and nationally syndicated programs will allow visitors to see the radio shows as well as hear them. Seminars, interviews and a listening series will also be featured during the 10-day fest. L.A. Radio Day, featuring workshops, family events, live radio dramas and storytelling, is Saturday.

* Museum of Television & Radio’s Radio Festival, 465 N. Beverly Drive, Beverly Hills, 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Call for complete schedule. Ends Oct. 27. $5 to $25. (310) 786-1000.

8 pm: Music

Norwegian pianist Leif Ove Andsnes plays the popular and dreaded (by some) Piano Concerto No. 3 by Rachmaninoff at the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s three weekend performances. With Esa-Pekka Salonen conducting, the program also lists a revival of Stephen Stucky’s “Son et lumiere” (given its premiere by the orchestra in 1990) and ends with the Second Symphony by Sibelius.

* Los Angeles Philharmonic, Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, 135 N. Grand Ave., L.A. 8 p.m. $12 to $78. Also, Saturday, 8 p.m., and Sunday, 2:30 p.m. (323) 850-2000.

7:30 pm: Pop Music

New Yorkers are taking pride in their resolve to bounce back these days, so the Strokes’ L.A. shows might pack a little extra punch. The first group of note to come out of the Apple’s rock club scene in ages, the band has just released a debut album, “Is This It,” brimming with spirited takes on classic rock strains stretching back to the Velvet Underground.

* The Strokes, with the Moldy Peaches, the Palace, 1735 N. Vine St., Hollywood, 7:30 p.m. Sold out. Also Friday, 7:30 p.m. (323) 462-3000.

Freebie

* “Hammer Readings: Contemporary Poetry” begins with readings of works by Pulitzer Prize-winning poet James Merrill (1926-1995), UCLA Hammer Museum, 10899 Wilshire Blvd., L.A., 7 p.m. (310) 443-7020.