When the Rudy Perez Dance Theater performs,...

When the Rudy Perez Dance Theater performs, it’s not exactly “Swan Lake.”

With interlocking movements and strong gestures and poses, the group’s four performers use dance to comment on social dilemmas and human vulnerability. They reveal the fear and pain lying beneath all of the role-playing people do to appear in control, says Manhattan Beach Public Arts Administrator Howard Spector.

Perez “varies between contemporary dance and performance art,” Spector said, calling him “one of the top choreographers in town.”

The company will demonstrate what it’s all about tonight at 7 at the Joslyn Center in a program sponsored by the city Public Arts Program.

It is part of a series of cultural events that will conclude Sept. 22 with an all-day Children’s Art Festival on the beach just north of the city pier.

The Perez group has appeared at UCLA, the John Anson Ford Theatre, the Museum of Contemporary Art, the Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions and the Japan American Cultural and Community Center. Perez collaborates with composers and visual artists, and his pieces are often developed with original scores.

Spector said the arts program has already brought two major choreographers to the city in past programs. He added that the evening with Perez “is a continuation of our trying to bring dance into this community and to develop an appreciation for contemporary dance.”

The Joslyn Center is at 1601 Valley Drive. Admission is $9 at the door.